CYPRUS: Tourism revenue drops for third time in five months

Cyprus tourism revenue dipped 3.6% on an annual basis in May, matching the downward slant in tourist arrivals.

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It is the third time receipts from tourism have decreased in the first five months, after last year’s record for tourist arrivals and money spent.

Income for the first five months until May reached €652.8 mln compared to €677.2 mln in the same period of 2018, recording a decrease of 3.6%, according to official data.

In May alone revenue decline 5.8% to €277.6 mln from €294.7 mln in May 2018.

Expenditure per person for May 2019 reached €638.78 compared to €654.14 in May 2018, recording a drop of 2.3%.

Spending per person/per day for May remained the same (from €76.06 to €76.05), while a decrease of 2.3% was recorded in the average length of stay, from 8.6 days in May 2018 to 8.4 days this year.

For the period of January – May 2019, spending per person dropped 2.5% to €582.15 from €597.12 in the same period last year.

A decrease of 2.3% was also recorded in the average length of stay, from 8.6 days in 2018 to 8.4 days in May 2019.

Meanwhile, hoteliers say they have seen a 5-10% drop in their occupancy rates, noting that a growing number of tourists choose to stay at Airbnb units, while more tourists are choosing to stay in hotels in the occupied north.

In comments to Stockwatch, chairman of the Paphos Hotel Association Thanos Michaelides said that in some cases hoteliers have seen their occupancy rates fall between 7-10%.

He said that hotel losses were correlated to a drop in the markets they are dependent on, noting that tourist arrivals from the German market have dipped by 50%.

He added that Turkey is gaining ground as an attractive tourist destination attracting tourists away from the other Mediterranean countries.