TOURISM: Cyprus records best ever July for tourist arrivals

An influx of British and Israeli tourists helped Cyprus set a new record for its best ever month for arrivals in July with over 550,000 visitors, official data indicated on Monday.

The Mediterranean island has beat its previous July record in 2018 when tourist arrivals reached 539,626 – this year the bar increased 2.1 per cent at 550,971.

However, over the first seven months to July the number of tourist coming to Cyprus dropped 0.1% on last year to 2.181 million from 2.184 million in 2018.

Tourist arrivals from the UK increased by 5.4 per cent in July 2019 on an annual basis while a 42 per cent hike was recorded from Israel.

This was countered by a 4.8 per cent decline in tourist arrivals from Russia, a 20.3 per cent dip from Germany and a 9.3 per cent drop from Sweden.

Tourists from the UK is by far the island's largest market with a 33.4 per cent share in July, followed by Russia with 21 per cent and nearby Israel is third with 8.5 per cent.
 Increases were also recorded from other emerging tourist markets, such as the Ukraine up 24.7 per cent and Finland 6.9 per cent.

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.

Cyprus annual tourist arrivals spiked 7.8 per in 2018 reaching a record 3.93 million as revenue touched a historic high of EUR 2.71 bln.

Cypriot authorities say they will struggle to meet last year’s markets due to stiffer competition from cheaper neighbouring destinations like Turkey and the unforeseen impact of a no-deal Brexit

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 recovery with GDP growth at around 3.5 per cent.