Cyprus tourist arrivals mark recovery in 2005

Though autumn season was poor

The total number of tourist arrivals in Cyprus reached 2.47 mln in 2005, the highest number since 2001, and marked an increase of 5.2% on the previous year, in line with government forecasts.

This is the first year of decent growth since the peak of 2.7 mln arrivals in 2000.

Tourist arrivals rose only slightly in 2001 (0.4%) and fell sharply in 2002-03 as a combination of external factors hit demand: the attacks on the US in September 2001, the SARS virus and fears that Saddam Hussein’s (non-existent) chemical weapons could be launched against the British Bases in Cyprus.

Ireland, Russia show strong rise

The strongest recovery among the main markets came from Ireland, where a 28.1% decline in 2004 turned into a 19.0% increase in 2005.

Arrivals from Russia also marked a strong turnaround, rising by 16.4% in 2005, compared with a 20.2% decline in 2004 .

Arrivals from Russia fell after Cyprus was obliged to tighten visa controls before entering the EU but had not yet organised procedures to ensure that the new visas could be issued quickly.

The government is now planning to speed up procedures further to allow multiple entry visas.

Arrivals from Cyprus’ main market, the UK, which supplies more than half of all tourists, rose by 4.4%, compared with a decline of 1.1% in 2004.

The only major market to record a decline was ‘motherland’ Greece, arrivals from which fell by 2.4%, after a strong 20.9% rise in 2004. The steep decline in arrivals from Greece began in September, just after the August crash of an aeroplane in Greece which had set off from Cyprus’ main airport in Larnaca.

However, the Helios effect seems to have spread to other countries too, with arrivals from other countries, such as Germany, Russia and Isreal also falling in this period.

Fiona Mullen