Tourist arrivals reached 100.852 in May 2021, showing an increase of 163% compared to 38.226 arrivals in April 2021.
According to the data of the Statistical Service, the tourist arrivals record a monthly increase for the fourth month, with the small, however, numbers in terms of arrivals being maintained, since there is no normalization in terms of tourist trips from the main markets of Cyprus. , ie Britain and Russia.
In this regard, the total tourist arrivals for the period January - May 2021 amounted to 156.825 compared to 246.556 in the corresponding period of 2020, recording a decrease of 36,4%, since in the first three months of 2020 there were no restrictions on tourist arrivals. It is recalled that in May 2020 there were no tourist arrivals due to the ban on entry into the Republic as part of measures against the spread of the coronavirus.
Compared to the pre-pandemic year, ie 2019, tourist arrivals for May decreased by 76,8%, while for the period January - May, the corresponding decrease amounted to 86%.
At the top are the Russians
Although chartered flights are banned, arrivals from Russia were the main source of tourism for May 2021, accounting for 56,8% (57.320) of total arrivals, while arrivals from Ukraine accounted for 7,8%. (7.821), while arrivals from Israel were 6,9% (6.948) and arrivals from Greece 6,1% (6.146).
According to the Statistical Service, the purpose of travel in May 2021 was for a percentage of 80,7% of tourists holidays, for 9,8% a visit to friends or relatives and for a percentage of 9,4% business. Respectively, for May 2019, 82,8% visited Cyprus for holidays, 10,2% for visiting friends or relatives and 7,0% for business reasons.