In January to September, the number of tourist arrivals also rose an annual 15%, to 3,001,603, also a record figure for this period, Cystat said in a statement on its website. Tourism accounts for roughly a quarter of Cyprus’s economy, which is expected to expand 3.6% this year.

Cystat said 89% of total arrivals last month came to the island for vacation while 7.7% to visit friends or relatives. The rest came for business.

Fifteen months after UK voters voted to leave the European Union, arrivals from the UK, Cyprus’ largest source of tourism, rose 11%, to 165,728, last month compared to September last year. The number tourists from Russia, the island’s second-largest source of rose 6.2%, to 121,516.

The number of tourists from Israel rose 78%, to 31,561, compared to a year before, while that from Sweden, Germany, and Greece rose 15% to, 22,428, 66%, to 51,533, and 3.9%, to 15,550, respectively, Cystat said. Arrivals from Poland rose 80%, to 8,681.

On the other hand, the number of tourists from Ukraine, France, and Belgium dropped 22% last month, to 6,464, 18%, to 3,050, and 30%, to 3,056, respectively, compared to September 2016.

Source: Cyprus Mail