More than half a million tourists visit Cyprus in August

Tourist arrivals to Cyprus reached 554,923 people in August 2024, an 8.5 per cent increase compared to 511,387 in August 2023, according to a report released on Tuesday from the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

From January to August 2024, a total of 2,758,627 tourists visited the island, a 4.1 per cent rise compared to the 2,648,795 arrivals in the same period last year.

The United Kingdom remained the top source of tourism in August, accounting for 34.7 per cent of total arrivals.

This was followed by Israel with 13.3 per cent, Poland with 7.7 per cent, Germany with 4.2 per cent, and Sweden with 4.1 per cent.

A significant 87.3 per cent of tourists cited holidays as their primary reason for visiting Cyprus, while 10.2 per cent visited friends or relatives, and 2.5 per cent came for business purposes.

Elsewhere in the report, the statistical service stated that the number of Cypriot residents returning from trips abroad dropped by 3.6 per cent in August 2024.

Specifically, 192,756 residents returned to Cyprus during this time, compared to 199,920 in August 2023.

Greece was the most popular destination, with 39.1 per cent of residents returning from there, followed by the United Kingdom (6.6 per cent), Russia (4.4 per cent), and Italy (4.1 per cent).

The majority of Cypriot residents travelled for holidays, comprising 89.9 per cent of trips, while business reasons accounted for 6.5 per cent, studies for 2.3 per cent, and other reasons for 1.3 per cent.

The statistical service noted that the data used in the report was collected at Larnaca and Paphos airports, with additional data from monthly port arrivals.