The overall annual rise for the period January – November 2015 was of the order of 4% indicating that the year will close on an upward trend.

In a statement, Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) said the positive data suggests once more that good outcomes can come out of the multifaceted cooperation between the semi-state organisation and all tourism professionals and partners.

At the same time, commenting on the drop of average duration of stay of tourists, it notes that it is an international trend which also results in less expenditure.

On the basis of the Service’s Passenger Survey revenue from tourism came in November to €81.9 million comparedto €65.0 million in November of 2014, recording an increase of 26.0%.

For the period January – November 2015 revenue from tourism are estimated to be €2,059.5 million compared to €1,979.8 million at the same period of 2014, recording an increase of 4%.

In November 2015 tourist arrivals were up by 32.7% compared to November 2014, in actual numbers they were 108,093 compared to 81,437.

The average stay however fell in November 2015 to 10.3 days compared to 11.9 days in the previous year.

At the same time the per capita expenditure fell by 5.2% to €757.45 last November compared to €798.61 in November 2014.

Indicatively arrivals from the UK increased significantly in November 2015 (41,856) compared to November 2014 (28,859).

The average stay of British tourists fell down to 11 days from 15 but daily (€79.07 from €58.05) and per capita expenditure (€935 from €868.5) increased.

Tourist arrivals from Russia also increased in November 2015 (17,740) compared to November 2014 (8,728).

Average duration of stay in Cyprus fell slightly from 10.9 days to 9.4 days. A drop was also recorded in Russian tourists` daily expenditure (€72.80 from €86.15) and their per capita expenditure (€684.36 from €942.90).

Source: InCyprus