Cyprus sees 3.6% rise in overnight stays in tourist accommodation (table)

There were 17,400 overnight stays in tourist accommodation in Cyprus in 2018, up 3.6% over the previous year according to figures issued by Eurostat on Wednesday.

The overwhelming majority – 16,500 or 95% were from non-residents which is the second highest proportion EU-wide.

But Cyprus recorded a 10.6% increase in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation by residents, which was the highest rise in the EU.

According to Eurostat, in 2018, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU is expected to have reached more than 3.1 billion, up by 2.2% compared with 2017.

Since 2009, there has been a steady increase in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU, notably driven by the rise in the nights spent by non-residents of the country visited.

In 2018, Spain (467 million nights, -0.9% compared with 2017) retained its lead, ahead of France (444 m, +2.4%), Italy (429 m, +1.9%) and Germany (419 m, +4.3%).

The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation in 2018 grew in nearly all Member States, with the largest increases being observed in Latvia (+8.3%), Lithuania (+7.7%) and Malta (+6.5%), followed by Poland (+5.8%), Romania (+5.5%) and Belgium (+5.4%).

In contrast, decreases were registered in Luxembourg (-4.3%), Ireland (-1.5%) and Spain (-0.9%).

In the EU, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation by residents grew slightly faster (+2.3%) between 2017 and 2018 than those spent by non-residents (+2.0%).

Almost every EU Member State recorded an increase in the number of tourism nights spent by residents, with the exception of Greece (-7.3%) and Luxembourg (-4.5%).

The highest increases were registered in Cyprus (+10.6%), Malta (+8.6%) and Croatia (+8.4%).

Similarly, the number of tourism nights spent by non-residents rose in nearly all Member States, except Ireland (-7.4%), Luxembourg (-4.2%), Spain (-1.6%) and Portugal (-0.1%).

The largest increases in 2018 were registered in Latvia (+10.1%), Belgium (+8.9%) and Lithuania (+8.0%). Within the EU Member States, the largest shares of nights spent by residents were recorded in Romania (81% of total nights spent), Poland (80%), Germany (79%) and Sweden (74%).

In contrast, the largest shares of nights spent by non-residents were registered in Malta (96% of total nights spent), Cyprus (95%) and Croatia (93%).

Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments