Tourist arrivals reached a new record in August 2019 with an increase of 3.6 per cent compared with August 2018.

According to the statistical service, arrivals reached 553,845 during the month compared with 534,847 in August 2018.

August 2019 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month.

For the period January – August 2019 arrivals totaled 2,735,839 compared with 2,719,622 in the corresponding period of 2018, an increase of 0.6 per cent, also a record for the period.

Arrivals from the UK increased by 1 per cent in August 2019 compared with August 2018 while an increase of 1.8 per cent was recorded in tourists from Russia and 23.6 per cent from Israel. A decrease of 0.2 per cent in arrivals from Sweden and 14.2 per cent from Germany were also recorded.

The UK was the main source of tourism for Cyprus in August 2019, accounting for 33.6 per cent of arrivals, while Russia comprised 20.9 per cent of total arrivals, Israel 9.4 per cent and Sweden 3.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the percentage of Cyprus residents returning from a trip abroad in August 2019 fell 6.1 per cent, or 173,81 compared with 184,285 in August 2018.

There was also a decrease of 15.6 per cent in trips to Greece in August 2019, which stood at 63,603 compared with 75,321 August 2018. The percentage of Cyprus residents travelling to the UK in August this year was also down 7.2 per cent, numbering 15,769 compared with 17,000 the same month last year.