Tourists arrivals recorded a new high record in September, reaching 580,889, recording an 1.8% increase, compared to September 2025 (570,635). For the first nine months of the year, arrivals record a year-over-year decrease of 5.6%, totaling 3,401,538 compared to 3.604.790 in the corresponding period of 2025.
According to data published on Monday by the Statistical Service, arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism for September 2026, with a share of 31.7% (184,345) of total arrivals, followed by Israel with 18.1% (105,249), Poland with 7.2% (41,636), Germany with 5.2% (30,362), Greece with 3.4% (19,995) and Sweden with 3.2% (18,656).
In September 2026, 84.8% of tourists travelled for holidays, 9.8% visited friends and relatives and 5.2% travelled for business purposes. Respectively, in September 2025, 84.8% of tourists visited Cyprus for holidays, 10.1% visited friends or relatives and 5% visited Cyprus for business purposes.
According to CYSTAT, a total of 165,447 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in September 2026 compared to 166,129 in the corresponding month last year, recording a decrease of 0.4%.
The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned in September 2026 were Greece with a share of 35.9% (59,422), the United Kingdom with 6.5% (10,755), Italy with 5.6% (9,227) and Russia with 4.7% (7,711).
The purpose of travel for the residents of Cyprus in September 2026 was mainly holidays, with a percentage of 82.9%, whilst business reasons held a percentage of 14.3%, studies 1.5% and other reasons 1.2%.