Dep. Minister welcomes 20.1% increase in 2023 tourist arrivals

Deputy Minister of Tourism Costas Koumis has welcomed the significant increase in tourist arrivals to Cyprus in 2023, adding that efforts will continue in order to achieve the same good results in 2024.

According to Cystat, 3,845,000 tourist arrivals were recorded in 2023 compared to 3,201,000 the year before, recording a 20.1% increase. In fact, last year’s arrivals approached those of 2019 which was a landmark year (3.3% less than 2019).

"The goal we set when assuming our duties was to achieve an increase in tourist arrivals of 5% - 10% this year compared to the previous year; we will work with all our strength to achieve even better results," the Deputy Minister of Tourism said in a press release.

He explained that this goal was not random, but set while taking into account geopolitical developments, the state of the economy in the main markets for Cyprus and specifically the high inflation that has blighted most economies in Europe and beyond.

Koumis expressed great satisfaction at the announcement of the final official results, saying what pleases him most is that "the vast majority of the market is satisfied with the final results".

"We continue our efforts with the aim not only to get good results next year, but to make the country's tourism product even more attractive," he added.

In terms of 2023, the UK was Cyprus’ top market with 1,302,125 arrivals and a 33.9% share, followed by Israel with 410,607 arrivals and a 10.7% share, Poland with 273,872 arrivals and a share of 7.1%, Germany with 211,216 arrivals and a share of 5.5%.

Noteworthy increases in arrivals were also recorded from other countries, such as Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Armenia, Georgia and all the Middle Eastern countries.