Tourist arrivals to Cyprus fell 30.7% in March 2026, with the island recording 139,198 visitors compared with 200,736 in March 2025, as the outbreak of conflict in the region weighed heavily on bookings, according to figures from the Statistical Service.
For the first quarter of 2026 as a whole, arrivals totalled 407,339, down 8.8% from 446,596 in the same period of 2025.
The UK was the largest source market in March 2026, accounting for 32.9% of arrivals, or 45,763 visitors. Poland followed with 12.6% and 17,604 arrivals, Germany with 10.8% and 14,999, and Greece with 6.5% and 9,009. In terms of purpose of travel, 65.7% of visitors said they came for holidays, down from 69.4% in March 2025, while 19.8% visited friends or relatives and 14.3% travelled for business.
Travel by Cyprus residents abroad also declined. Departures in March 2026 totalled 133,034, against 145,940 in March 2025, a fall of 8.8%. Greece accounted for 32.4% of returns, or 43,068 travellers, followed by the UK at 9.9% (13,131), Italy at 4.7% (6,304) and Germany at 4.5% (5,961). Holidays accounted for 72.5% of trips taken by Cyprus residents, business travel for 22.6%, studies for 3.9% and other reasons for 1%.
The sharp deterioration in March followed the outbreak of conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran at the end of February. In early March, a Shahed drone strike on a British naval base on the island, as reported, triggered a further wave of cancellations and prompted foreign governments to issue travel advisories against visiting the region.
Authorities are looking to the forthcoming EU Summit as a means of rebuilding confidence in Cyprus as a safe destination. Cyprus, which holds the rotating EU Council presidency, will host all 27 EU leaders on April 23 and 24, first in Ayia Napa and then in Nicosia. Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis told Politico that hosting such a significant event amounted above all to a vote of confidence in the Republic of Cyprus and could send a strong message that security was a top priority. ACTTA spokesman Antonis Orthodoxou said he hoped the Summit would serve as a starting point for restoring foreign visitor confidence in Cyprus.
Pressure on arrivals has been compounded by rising airfares, driven by higher fuel costs. Some return flights from Brussels are exceeding €1,000, according to Politico, making Cyprus less accessible for a country heavily dependent on air links with the rest of Europe. Government officials said plans for additional flights to Brussels during the Cyprus presidency had been postponed because of the war, and described the rise in ticket prices as catastrophic for the tourism market.
Koumis acknowledged that last year’s record results were not expected to be repeated, saying both March and April had already been negatively affected.
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