Tourist arrivals up 65% in February, U.K. leads

Tourist arrivals increased for the second consecutive month and rose to 119,081 in February from 71,921 in the same month last year, an increase of 65.6%, with the U.K. accounting for a quarter of these holidaymakers.

For the January-February period, tourist arrivals totaled 209,630 compared to 115,865 in the corresponding period of 2022, an increase of 80.9%, thanks to a strong figure of 90,600 arrivals in January, according to Cystat.

The United Kingdom was the main source of tourism for February, with 32,394 (27.2% of total arrivals), followed by Israel with 15,196 (12.8%), Greece saw 15,058 arrivals (12.6%), Poland with 11,728 (9.8%) and Germany with 6,107 (5.1%).

Of all arrivals in February, 66.7% said they visited for holidays, 20.1% to visit friends and relatives, and 13.0% for business, compared to 64.0%, 21.5% and 14.5%, respectively, in February last year.

Returns of Cyprus residents

Local travelers were also on the rise, with 102,001 Cyprus residents returning from a trip abroad in February compared to 41,399 in the same month last year, an increase of 146.4%.

The main destinations in February were Greece with a share of 34.7% (35,351), the United Kingdom with 11.7% (11,969), Bulgaria with 4.3% (4,408) and Germany with 4.1% (4,207).

Cyprus resident travelled abroad in February mainly for holidays (68.3%), for business (24.5%), returning from studies (5.9%) and for other reasons (1.4%).