According to the Cyprus Statistical service report, which was released on Tuesday the 18th of April 2017, tourism on the island recorded an increase of 2.8% in March 2017 compared with the same month last year. Additionally, the statistical service said that an increase of 13.5% was noted in the first quarter of the year.

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO), commented that the current data make the past winter tourist season the second best in tourist arrivals of all time, confirming the projections that the improvement of seasonality is picking up.

The results of the Cyprus Statistical Service’s Passengers Survey, showed that, arrivals of tourists reached 140,873 in March 2017 compared to 137,013 in March 2016, recording an increase of 2.8%. The report also said that, more Cypriot residents travelled abroad, with returning residents recording an annual increase in March 2017 of 19.2%.

For the period January 2017 – March 2017 the total number of tourist arrivals was 285,693 compared to 251,608 in the same period of 2016, recording an increase of 13.5%. Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from Russia increased by 55.1% in March 2017 compared to March 2016 while an increase of 10.7% was recorded for tourists arriving from Greece.

Increases from other tourist markets were also recorded, such as Israel (94.9%) and France (15.9%). On the other hand, tourist arrivals from the UK recorded a drop of 7.9%.

The United Kingdom and Russia constitute the main sources of tourism for Cyprus for March 2017, holding a share of 38.7% and14.1% respectively, while arrivals from Greece comprise 9.6% and from Israel 7.1% of total arrivals.

According to the Passengers Survey results, 102,758 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in March 2017 compared to 86,229 in the corresponding month last year, recording an increase of 19.2%.

In March 2017 there was an increase of 22.4% in the trips of residents to Greece up from 31,570 in March 2016 to 38,638 in March 2017 and 22.3% increase from the United Kingdom up from 16,940 to 20,726 this year.

In further detail, men comprised 48% of tourists and women 52%, whilst the majority of tourists belonged to the age group of 20-44 years. 68.3% of tourists said that the purpose of their trip in March 2017 was holidays, 15.5% said they were visiting friends and relatives, and 16.1% said they came to the island for business.