Eight-month tourism decline narrows to 7 per cent as Israel offsets falls across most major markets 

Tourist arrivals to Cyprus fell by 3.3 per cent in August, as Britain, Poland, Germany and most other major markets weakened, while another sharp rise from Israel helped cushion what would otherwise have been a steeper decline.

A total of 581,880 tourist arrivals were recorded during the month, compared with 602,026 in August 2025, according to figures released on Thursday by the statistical service (Cystat). 

Despite the annual decline, August remained 4.9 per cent above the same month in 2024, when Cyprus received 554,923 tourist arrivals. 

For the January to August period, arrivals reached 2,820,649, down by 7 per cent from 3,034,155 during the corresponding period of 2025. Cyprus therefore received 213,506 fewer tourists during the first eight months of the year. 

The percentage shortfall has continued to shrink over the summer. At the end of June it stood at 10.1 per cent, before narrowing to 8 per cent by the end of July and now 7 per cent after August. 

The gap with 2025 actually widened during August, from 193,360 arrivals at the end of July to 213,506, as the month itself finished 20,146 arrivals below last year. 

The United Kingdom remained Cyprus’ largest tourism market, accounting for 30.5 per cent of all arrivals, with 177,603 visitors. 

British arrivals were 8 per cent lower than the 193,091 recorded in August 2025 and 7.7 per cent below the 192,424 registered in 2024. 

Israel, by contrast, continued to move sharply in the opposite direction, with arrivals climbing to 135,628, up 28.4 per cent from 105,597 last year and 83.2 per cent higher than the 74,032 recorded in August 2024. 

As a result, Israel accounted for 23.3 per cent of all tourist arrivals during August, adding more than 30,000 visitors to the monthly total compared with last year. 

Together, Britain and Israel generated more than half of all tourist arrivals to Cyprus during the month. 

Poland remained the third-largest market, although arrivals fell by 12.5 per cent to 36,622, from 41,844 in August 2025. 

The latest figure was also 14.1 per cent below August 2024, when Cyprus received 42,650 Polish tourists. 

Germany followed with 25,823 arrivals, down 6.7 per cent from 27,665 last year. 

German traffic nevertheless held up considerably better against 2024, with arrivals 11.9 per cent above the 23,068 recorded two years earlier. 

Sweden generated 17,441 tourists, a decrease of 6.4 per cent from 18,636 last year and 22.5 per cent below the 22,508 recorded in 2024. 

Elsewhere, Denmark recorded 9,733 arrivals, down 2.5 per cent from 9,984 last year, although the figure remained 10.4 per cent above August 2024. 

Norway was the only listed market apart from Israel to record annual growth, with arrivals rising by 1.4 per cent to 8,006, compared with 7,896 in 2025 and 6,782 two years earlier. 

Romania, meanwhile, accounted for 15,317 tourists, down by 16.3 per cent from 18,300 last year. 

Romanian arrivals remained 6 per cent higher than in August 2024, when the figure stood at 14,448. 

Arrivals from Greece also fell, declining by 9.7 per cent to 13,810, compared with 15,294 in 2025 and 14,307 in 2024. 

Austria recorded 10,389 tourists, a fall of 13 per cent from 11,935 last year and slightly below the 10,620 recorded two years earlier. 

Switzerland followed with 6,739 arrivals, down 7.4 per cent from 7,277 in 2025 and 20.3 per cent below the 8,459 recorded in August 2024. 

Hungary generated 8,465 tourists, a decrease of 9.7 per cent from 9,378 last year and 5.5 per cent below the corresponding figure for 2024. 

The Netherlands accounted for 6,331 arrivals, representing a 17.5 per cent annual decline from 7,672 and leaving the market 6.1 per cent below August 2024. 

France once again suffered by far the sharpest fall among the markets listed by Cystat, with arrivals almost halving to 8,453, down 46 per cent from 15,663 last year. 

Compared with 2024, the fall was steeper still. Cyprus received 16,798 French tourists that August, leaving this year’s figure almost 50 per cent lower. 

Lebanon also weakened, with arrivals falling by 11.5 per cent to 5,085, from 5,745 in 2025 and 5,663 two years earlier. 

Finally, countries grouped under “other” markets generated 96,435 arrivals, down 9.1 per cent from 106,049 last year and slightly below the 98,648 recorded in August 2024. 

The latest figures come only days after Tourism Deputy Minister Kostas Koumis said Cyprus could finish 2026 with tourist arrivals about 5 per cent below last year, at a time when the August figures had yet to be released. 

The summer has nevertheless proved considerably stronger than the spring, when regional instability caused much sharper losses. 

That recovery can also be seen in airport traffic. Larnaca and Paphos airports handled 1.77 million passengers in August, their strongest monthly total of 2026, although traffic remained 1.5 per cent below August 2025. 

Across the first eight months of the year, the two airports handled 8.82 million passengers, down 3.3 per cent from 2025 but 7.9 per cent above 2024. 

Turning to the purpose of travel, holidays accounted for 84.5 per cent of tourist arrivals in August, compared with 86.5 per cent last year and 87.3 per cent in 2024. 

Meanwhile, the proportion visiting friends and relatives climbed to 13 per cent, from 11.4 per cent in August 2025 and 10.2 per cent two years earlier. 

Business travel also increased slightly, accounting for 2.4 per cent of arrivals, compared with 2.1 per cent last year and 2.5 per cent in 2024. 

Cyprus residents, meanwhile, continued travelling abroad in large numbers, although the increase was far more modest than in July. 

A total of 239,337 residents returned from overseas trips during August, up just 0.3 per cent from 238,740 in the corresponding month of 2025. 

That followed the much stronger 12.3 per cent annual increase recorded in July, when 210,047 residents returned from trips abroad. 

August travel nevertheless remained well above the level seen two years ago. In August 2024, 192,756 Cyprus residents returned from trips overseas, meaning this year’s figure was about 24 per cent higher. 

Greece remained comfortably the most popular destination, with 87,684 returning residents, accounting for 36.6 per cent of the total. 

The United Kingdom followed with 16,448 travellers and a 6.9 per cent share, while Italy accounted for 11,054 residents, or 4.6 per cent. 

Poland represented 10,408 returning residents and 4.3 per cent of the total, while Russia followed closely with 10,021 travellers and a 4.2 per cent share. 

As for the purpose of those trips, holidays dominated even more heavily than a year earlier, accounting for 93.1 per cent of travel by Cyprus residents. 

Business trips represented 5.9 per cent, studies 0.8 per cent and other reasons the remaining 0.2 per cent. 

In August 2025, holidays had accounted for 91.6 per cent of residents’ trips, while business travel represented 6.7 per cent, studies 1.3 per cent and other reasons 0.4 per cent.