Press Releases

17-02-2020 13:02

Tourists arrivals in January have increased by 4,5%

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, arrivals of tourists reached 85.622 in January 2020 compared to 81.970 in January 2019, recording an increase of 4,5%. January 2020 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month.

Analysis of changes

Tourist arrivals from Israel increased by 58,0% in January 2020 compared to January 2019 while an increase of 91,9% was also recorded for tourists from Ukraine. Contrary to that, a decrease of 4,7% in tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom, 18,1% decrease from Greece and 4,6% from Russia were recorded. Percentage changes from one year to the next for the main countries of usual residence of tourists are presented in Table 1.

Main countries

The United Kingdom constitutes the main source of tourism for Cyprus for January 2020, with a proportion of 26,1% while arrivals from Israel comprise 16,0% of total arrivals, from Greece 10,7% and from Russia 8,8% (Table 2).

Purpose of visit

For a percentage of 57,6% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in January 2020 was holidays, for 22,9% visit to friends and relatives and for 19,2% business (Table 3).

Table1
Country of usual residence	January
	Tourist arrivals			% change 2020/19
	2018	2019	2020	% change 2020/19
TOTAL	75.867	81.970	85.622	4,5
Austria	338	503	622	23,7
Belgium	482	378	533	41,0
France	1.187	746	1.082	45,0
Germany	2.431	3.291	1.677	-49,0
Denmark	280	385	293	-23,9
Switzerland (incl. Lichten.)	555	725	308	-57,5
Greece	11.436	11.204	9.174	-18,1
United Kingdom	19.945	23.447	22.350	-4,7
Israel	8.240	8.684	13.720	58,0
Lebanon	1.739	1.478	2.705	83,0
Norway	351	873	244	-72,1
Netherlands	383	518	473	-8,7
Ukraine	1.687	2.079	3.989	91,9
Poland	1.882	2.119	2.723	28,5
Russia	10.832	7.876	7.512	-4,6
Sweden	392	881	721	-18,2
Finland	64	191	29	-84,8
Other	13.643	16.592	17.467	5,3

Table 2
Country of usual residence of tourists	Percentage(%)
Country of usual residence of tourists	Jan.19	Jan.20
United Kingdom	28,6	26,1
Israel	10,6	16,0
Greece	13,7	10,7
Russia	9,6	8,8
Ukraine	2,5	4,7
Poland	2,6	3,2
Lebanon	1,8	3,2
Other countries	30,6	27,4

Table 3
Purpose of visit		Percentage (%)
Purpose of visit		Jan 18	Jan 19	Jan 20
Holidays	55,2		53,5	57,6
Visiting friends & relatives	24,3		25,2	22,9
Business	20,4		21,2	19,2

Methodological notes

Definitions

Tourists – Visitors who stay for at least one night in Cyprus.

Tourist arrivals – The term refers to the number of trips and not to the number of persons. This differs in the sense that one person can take more than one trips during the reference period.

Source of data and coverage

The data are obtained from the Passengers Survey which is conducted in the arrivals and departures halls in the airports of Larnaka and Pafos, as well as from administrative sources such as the monthly arrivals at ports.

The survey covers all persons who pass through passport control at the ports and airports in the Government controlled area of Cyprus. It does not include travelers who arrive and depart illegally via ports and airports in the occupied part of Cyprus.

The weighting of data is conducted based on the data sent to the Statistical Service by the Civil Aviation Department and from the ship manifests, as well as data sent by the Analysis and Statistics Office of the Cyprus Police.

For more information:

Statistical Service (CYSTAT) Website, subtheme Tourism

Contact

Lucy Panayidou: Tel.:+35722602152, E-mail: lpanagidou@cystat.mof.gov.cy

(ND/SCH)

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