Cyprus tourism to grow by just over 20% in 2023 compared to 2022, the second highest in the EU, amid the sector's wider recovery in Europe after the pandemic COVID-19, according to Eurostat's first estimates based on the data available so far for 2023.
Almost all EU member states recorded an increase in the number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation, with the exception of Luxembourg, which recorded a slight decrease (-0,1%).
In Malta and Cyprus, the increase in overnight stays exceeded 20%, while in eight other EU member states it exceeded 10% (Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Austria, Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania and Greece).
The biggest increase in overnight stays in absolute numbers was recorded in Germany (+32,8 million overnight stays) and Spain (+32,3 million overnight stays).
More broadly in the EU, estimates show a total of 2,92 billion overnight stays in tourist accommodation in 2023, a figure that represents an increase of 1,6% from 2019, before the start of the pandemic (2,87 billion). According to Eurostat, this is a record for the hospitality sector in the EU.
In 2023 there were 171 million more overnight stays compared to 2022 (+6,3%), mainly due to an increase in overnight stays by international visitors (+146 million) and to a lesser extent due to an increase in overnight stays by domestic visitors (+25 million ). Tourism levels (in terms of overnight stays) were 25% higher than ten years ago (2,33 billion overnight stays in 2013).
Also, after three years in which the share of international tourism was significantly lower (29%, 32% and 44% of total overnight stays in 2020, 2021 and 2022), in 2023 foreign tourists made up 46% of the total 2,87 billion overnight stays. This share points to a recovery of international tourism almost to pre-pandemic levels (47% in 2019). However, in terms of volume, international tourism was still lower than in 2019 (-0,4%).
In terms of accommodation, hotels and similar accommodation were the main category in terms of overnight stays, with 1,8 billion (63% of the total). This was followed by holiday accommodation and other short-term accommodation (24%) and camping (13%).
Source: KYPE