Over 1.6 mln tourists visited in six months

Cyprus recorded a significant boost in annual tourist arrivals, which surged by 22.7% in June, with British visitors driving a revival in the key sector.

According to the latest data by the Statistical Service, a total of 456,985 visitors visited the island in June, compared to 372,324 in June last year.

In the first six months to June 2023, the total number of tourist arrivals reached 1,613,690, reflecting a remarkable increase of 32.1% compared to 2022, when 1,221,382 arrivals were recorded.

Compared to the benchmark record-breaking 2019, there was a 1.1% decrease in arrivals for January-June.

And compared to June 2019, there was a 10.3% dip in tourist arrivals.

The United Kingdom continued to be the main source of tourism in June, accounting for 34.8% (159,061) of all arrivals, followed by Israel, representing 10.2% (46,402), Poland with 6.6% (30,293), Sweden with 5.0% (22,724), and Greece with 4.5% (20,722).

Most visitors (81.7%) visited Cyprus for holiday purposes in June.

Meanwhile, 12.6% visited friends and relatives, and 5.5% arrived for business-related reasons.

Comparatively, in June 2022, 82% visited Cyprus for holidays, 10.9% visited friends or relatives, and 7.0% came for business purposes.

Cyprus residents

And Cyprus recorded a big rise in residents returning from trips abroad.

Some 138,588 residents of Cyprus returned from overseas travels in June, compared to 121,146 last year, an increase of 14.4%.

Among the main countries where residents returned, Greece held the largest share, accounting for 30.8% (42,662).

The United Kingdom followed with 11.2% (15,493) of the returnees, while Italy accounted for 7.1% (9,776), and France constituted 4.2% (5,776).

The purpose of travel for Cyprus residents in June was for the majority, 61.9%, for holiday purposes.

Business-related travel accounted for 26.0% of the returns, while 9.8% of residents travelled for studies.