Cyprus Sees Slight Dip in Tourist Arrivals for April 2024
The allure of Cyprus as a tourist destination continues to shine, although the latest figures from the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) indicate a slight decline in tourist arrivals for April 2024. The numbers came in at 333,563 visitors, which is a 2.7 per cent decrease from the 342,736 tourists recorded in April of the previous year.
Despite this minor setback, the overall trend for the first four months of 2024 paints a brighter picture. From January to April, the island welcomed 748,814 tourists, marking a 1.7 per cent increase over the 736,629 visitors during the same period in 2023. The United Kingdom continues to be the leading source of tourists, contributing to 35.3 per cent of the total arrivals in April 2024.
Other significant contributors to Cyprus’s tourism sector include Israel and Poland, with 10.7 per cent and 7.6 per cent of the total arrivals respectively. Germany and Greece also remain important markets, adding to the diverse mix of international visitors.
When it comes to the purpose of visits, there’s been a noticeable shift towards holiday travel, which accounted for a substantial 82.1 per cent of all tourist visits in April 2024. This is an increase from the 79.3 per cent reported in the same month last year. On the other hand, visits to friends and relatives saw a decrease, as did returns of residents from trips abroad, with a slight drop of 2.1 per cent from last year’s figures.
The majority of Cypriot residents returning from abroad were coming back from Greece, which accounted for 35.7 per cent of the total returns. The United Kingdom and Italy also remained popular destinations for Cypriot travelers. Reflecting the global trend, holiday travel was the primary purpose for Cypriots traveling abroad, followed by business trips and studies.
While the slight decline in tourist arrivals to Cyprus for April might raise some eyebrows, the overall increase in early 2024 suggests that the island’s tourism industry remains robust and continues to attract a diverse range of visitors from across the globe.
