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COVID19: Tourist arrivals almost non-existent

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Cyprus tourism has hit rock bottom with annual arrivals of holidaymakers in the first 11 months to November sinking 84% due to the pandemic.

Tourist arrivals for November alone were down 94.7% as travel restrictions and lockdowns across Europe played havoc with holiday plans.

According to official data released Thursday, arrivals of tourists reached 8,952 in November from 169,392 in the same month last year.

For the 11 months January to November, arrivals of tourists slipped 83.9% to 621,927 from 3,866,447 in 2019.

Cyprus’ tourism sector received the heaviest blow from the coronavirus pandemic with arrivals affected by both travel restrictions worldwide while Cyprus imposed a ban on commercial flights from March to early June.

In November, tourist arrivals from Greece dropped by 85.3% while a 96.4% decrease was also recorded from the largest market the UK and an 89.2% decline from Germany.

A mixture of national lockdowns, quarantine and travel restrictions has decimated the island’s tourism industry which generated €2.68 bln last year on record 3.97 million tourist arrivals.

Income generated from tourism contributes around 15% to GDP, the picture is a lot different for 2020.

The government aimed to reach at least 20% of last year’s capacity but those hopes have been dashed.

Country of usual residence November January – November
Tourist arrivals % change 2020/19 Tourist arrivals % change 2020/19
2018 2019 2020 2018 2019 2020
TOTAL 158.685 169.392 8.952 -94,7 3.832.062 3.866.447 621.927 -83,9
Greece 15.525 14.588 2.150 -85,3 170.563 160.988 60.033 -62,7
United Kingdom 50.022 55.206 1.978 -96,4 1.295.740 1.297.234 225.070 -82,7
Germany 15.432 10.260 1.104 -89,2 183.104 146.999 59.586 -59,5
Other 77.706 89.338 3.720  -95,8 2.182.655 2.261.226 277.238 -87,7