Tourist arrivals up 27% in January

The Cyprus tourism sector got off to a positive start for 2025, with arrivals reaching 112,100 in January, up 27.4% from 87,961 in the same month last year.

At this rate, total arrivals could surpass the 2024 record of 4.04 mln, improving on the previous high of 3.97 mln holidaymakers in 2019.

Tourist arrivals last year saw increases in ten of the twelve months.

According to the statistical service Cystat, the biggest number of arrivals were from Israel, a total of 23,704, or about 21% of all arrivals in the month.

The traditional market of the U.K. was next with 18,701, or 16.7%, Poland with 15,791 (14.1%) and Greece with 11.288 (10.1%).

For more than half, or 56.4% of arrivals, the purpose of their trip was for holidays, 24.5% visited friends and relatives, and 19% were for business. In January 2024, some 60.8% of arrivals declared ‘holidays’ as their main purpose of visit, 21.2% visited friends or relatives and 17.2% were here for business.

Returns of residents of Cyprus

Meanwhile, some 147,858 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in January this year compared to 153,499 in the same month last year, a decrease of 3.7%.

The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned were Greece with a share of 29.9% (44,275), the United Kingdom with 11.2% (16,557), Russia with 4.5% (6,621), Italy with 4.4% (6,479) and Germany with 4.3% (6,332).

The purpose of overseas travel for Cyprus residents was mainly for holidays (78.1%), business (19.9%), studies (1.1%) and “other” at 0.8%.