Tourist arrivals in Cyprus experienced a surge in August 2023, with an increase of 60,254 or 13.4% compared to August 2022. This growth was primarily attributed to a substantial rise of nearly 33,000 tourist arrivals from Israel.
According to a report by the Cyprus Statistical Service, tourist arrivals in August 2023 reached 511,387, compared to 451,133 in August 2022.
For the period of January to August 2023, tourist arrivals amounted to 2,648,795, marking a substantial increase of 24.5% compared to the same period in 2022 when arrivals were 2,127,172.
In total for the year 2022, tourist arrivals had reached 3,201,080, making it the fourth-highest number of tourists historically, following the years 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Israel Leads the Way
Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom remained the primary source of tourism in August 2023, accounting for 35.9% (183,642) of the total arrivals. Arrivals from Israel represented 14.9% (76,130) of the total, with an impressive increase of 32,804 compared to the previous August. Additionally, arrivals from Poland contributed 5.8% (29,495), arrivals from Germany 4.5% (23,178), and arrivals from Sweden 3.6% (18,218).
According to the Statistical Service, in August 2023, 86.0% of tourists visited Cyprus for leisure, 11.9% for visiting friends or relatives, and 2.0% for business purposes. In comparison, in August 2022, 85.5% visited Cyprus for leisure, 12.4% for visiting friends or relatives, and 2.1% for business reasons.
Increase in Cypriot Outbound Travel in August
Furthermore, according to the Statistical Service, Cypriot residents’ outbound travel in August 2023 reached 199,920, compared to 153,563 in August 2022, marking a substantial increase of 30.2%.
The top countries Cypriot residents returned from in August 2023 were Greece at 40.4% (80,713), the United Kingdom at 5.7% (11,329), Italy at 5.3% (10,516), France at 3.7% (7,389), and Russia at 3.2% (6,490).
The primary purpose of Cypriot residents’ travel in August 2023 was predominantly for leisure at 90.4%, while business purposes accounted for 5.9%, studies at 2.1%, and other reasons at 1.5%.