ECONOMY Cyprus enjoys 3.1% rise in income from January tourism

Revenue from Cyprus tourism rose 3.1% year-on-year with income estimated at €39.6 mln in January from €38.4 mln in 2018.

According to official data, expenditure per person fell 4.6% to €483.26 in January 2019 from €506.49 in the same month last year.

Average Expenditure per person/per day also fell by 3.5% from €56.28 to €54.30.

A decrease of 1.1% was recorded in the average length of stay, from 9 days in January 2018 to 8.9 days in January 2019.

The eastern Mediterranean island has benefited from its reputation as a regional safe haven as unrest has hit the tourism sectors of its traditional competitors Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.

In Janaury, the most frugal visitors were the Belgians spending an average of €31.86 a day while the most extravagant were the Austrian spending a whopping €120.08 per-day.

The tourism boom helped Cyprus return to growth following a €10-billion bailout to rescue its crumbling economy and insolvent banks in March 2013.

Income from tourism now accounts for about 15% of the country’s gross domestic product and is credited with underpinning a quick economic recovery with GDP growth touching 4 per cent.

Tourism revenue touched an historic high of €2.71 bln in 2018, up from €2.63 bln the year before which held the previous record.

Record-breaking income follows an unprecedented year for arrivals when Cyprus welcomed a record 3.93 million tourists in 2018, smashing the previous record set in 2017 by a large 7.8%.