New record as tourist arrivals rise annual 8.2% in June

Tourist arrivals have set a new record, both for the month of June and for the first six months of 2018, according to the latest Passengers Survey announced by the Statistical Service of Cyprus on Tuesday.

It showed tourist arrivals in June reached 511,073 up from 472,450 in June 2017,  up 8.2% and a new record for the month. 

In the first six months of 2018, arrivals totalled 1,645,149 compared to 1,463,206 in the corresponding period of 2017. This represents an increase of 12.4% and outnumbers the total arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the first six months of the year.

Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom increased by 9.9% in June 2018 compared to June 2017  while an increase of 20.2% was recorded for tourists from Sweden. Increases were also recorded from other important tourist markets, such as Greece (4.7%) and Poland (36.4%).

In contrast, there was a 5.1% drop in tourist arrivals from Russia, a 15.1% decrease from Israel and 11.3% decrease from Germany.

The United Kingdom constituted the main source of tourism for Cyprus for June 2018, with a proportion of 32.4% while arrivals from Russia accounted for 24.1% of total arrivals, from Sweden 5.0%  and from Israel 4.7%.

Most people who visited Cyprus in June this year — 86.4% — were here on holiday, 8.7% visited friends and relatives and 4.9% came on business.