ECONOMY: Cyprus enjoys 2.9% rise in tourism revenue after dip

Revenue from Cyprus tourism rose 2.9% year-on-year with income estimated at €186.6 mln in April from €181.4 mln in 2018.

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However, for the first four months, ending in April, tourist spending was down 1.9% to €375.2 mln from €382.5 mln.

According to official data, expenditure per person also fell 1.9% to €566.60 in April 2019 from €577.39 in the same month last year.

Average Expenditure per person/per day dipped by 0.6% from €71.28 to €70.83.

A decrease of 1.2% was recorded in the average length of stay, from 8.1 days in April 2018 to 8 days in April 2019.

Expenditure per person for January – April 2019 reached €546.32 from €559.54 last year, recording a 2.4% decrease.

The expenditure per person/per day for the period of January – April remained almost unchanged at €66.62.

The eastern Mediterranean island has benefited from its reputation as a regional safe haven as unrest has hit the tourism sectors of its traditional competitors Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.

This has now changed with tourists returning to these cheaper destinations.

In April, the most frugal visitors were the Greeks spending an average of €41.45 a day while the most extravagant were the Lebanese spending a whopping €125.46 per-day.

The tourism boom helped Cyprus return to growth following a €10-billion bailout to rescue its crumbling economy and insolvent banks in March 2013.

Income from tourism now accounts for about 15% of the country’s gross domestic product and is credited with underpinning a quick economic recovery with GDP growth touching 4 per cent.

Tourism revenue touched an historic high of €2.71 bln in 2018, up from €2.63 bln the year before which held the previous record.

Record-breaking income follows an unprecedented year for arrivals when Cyprus welcomed a record 3.93 million tourists in 2018, smashing the previous record set in 2017 by a large 7.8%.