Tourist arrivals recorded an 83.4% year-on -year decrease in September, with arrivals reaching 87,334 compared with 524,707 during the same month last year, Cystat said in a written statement.

For the period of January to September, arrivals totalled 512,184 compared with 3,260,546 in the corresponding period of 2019 bringing the decrease to 84.3%.

Since June 8, arrivals from specific countries were allowed based on the epidemiological risk assessment by the ministry of health. For three months prior, the country was in lockdown.

Arrivals from the UK, which remained in category B obligating all passengers to carry a negative coronavirus test, decreased by 71% in September compared with last year. Arrivals from Greece saw a 63.2% decrease last month after the country was moved from category A (no restrictions) to category B in mid-August.

Arrivals from Germany recorded a 35.3% decrease, while a 78.8% drop was recorded from Switzerland, a 77.8% from Poland and a 41.4% from Denmark.

Most people who arrived in Cyprus in September visited the island for holidays (79.5%) while 13.4% came to visit family and friends and 7.2% came for business.

For the same period, 26,111 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad compared with 132,409 in the corresponding month last year, recording a decrease of 80.3%.

The main countries from which the residents of Cyprus returned in September 2020, were Greece, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and Bulgaria.

As compared with September 2019, the returns of residents from Greece decreased by 79.1%, returns from the United Kingdom decreased by 73.0%, from Germany by 66.4per cent, from Russia by 90% and from Bulgaria by 88.1%.

Source: Cyprus Mail