TRAVEL: Cyprus arrivals up 5.9%, as trips abroad rise 17%

Tourist arrivals reached 373,086 in August compared to 352,215 in the same month last year, an increase of 5.9%, according to data released by the Statistical Service Cystat.
The monthly Passengers Survey showed a 6.5% year-on-year rise in tourist arrivals from the U.K. (from 127,118 to 135,424), a 11.6% increase from Russia (from 99,215 to 110,725) and 61.7% increase from Israel (from 8,164 to 13,201 this year).
However, there was a 9.7% drop in arrivals from Sweden (from 18,436 to 16,642), a 3.9% decrease from Germany (8,356 from 8,693), a 14.5% drom from Norway (7,592 from 8,876) and 18.2% decrease from Greece (7,472 from 9,129 last year).
For the January-August period, tourist arrivals totalled 1,734,880 compared to 1,637,792 in the corresponding period of 2013, an increase of 5.9%.
Meanwhile, there was also a significant rise in trips by Cypriot residents abroad last month, up 17.3% year-on-year.
The monthly Passengers Survey found that 155,144 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in August, compared to 132,309 in the same month last year, an increase of 17.3%. However, travel was somewhat subdued last year due to the economic crisis and credit crunch, with consumer spending generally down.
In August, there was an increase of 34.9% in trips to Greece (from 53,816 to 72,616), but a 3.2% decrease of the trips to the United Kingdom (from 26,227 to 22,061).
A decrease in trips abroad was also recorded in May and June, by 15.8 and 12.4%, respectively, according to earlier Cystat data.