Tourist arrivals to Cyprus dropped by 3.3% in August 2026 compared to the same month in 2025, totaling 581,880 visitors according to data published by GovCy. Between January and August 2026, arrivals amounted to 2,820,649, marking a 7.0% decline relative to the 3,034,155 tourists during the corresponding period in 2025.
Tourist Source Markets and Visit Purposes
The United Kingdom remained the largest source country in August 2026, providing 30.5% of arrivals with 177,603 tourists. Israel ranked second, contributing 23.3% or 135,628 tourists, followed by Poland with 6.3% (36,622), Germany with 4.4% (25,823), and Sweden with 3.0% (17,441).
Regarding travel motivations, 84.5% of visitors arrived for holiday
purposes, 13.0% to visit friends or relatives, and 2.4% for business in August 2026. These figures reflect slight shifts from August 2025, where holiday travelers accounted for 86.5%, visitors to friends and relatives 11.4%, and business travelers 2.1%.
Resident Returns from Abroad
Cycling the flow of inbound tourists, 239,337 Cyprus residents returned from trips abroad in August 2026, registering an increase of 0.3% compared to 238,740 in August 2025. Greece was the primary return country with 36.6% of returning residents (87,684), followed by the United Kingdom at 6.9% (16,448), Italy at 4.6% (11,054), Poland at 4.3% (10,408), and Russia at 4.2% (10,021).
Travel purposes
for residents returning in August 2026 showed 93.1% returned from holidays, 5.9% for business, 0.8% for studies, and 0.2% for other reasons.
Data Collection and Definitions
The data are derived from passenger surveys conducted at Larnaka and Pafos airports, supplemented by administrative records including monthly arrivals through ports. These statistics are confined to passengers processed through passport control in government-controlled areas of Cyprus, excluding travelers entering or leaving via ports or airports in the occupied regions.
Weighting adjustments are made based on input from the Civil Aviation Department, ship manifests, and the Analysis and Statistics Office of the Cyprus Police. Tourists are defined as
visitors staying at least one night, with arrivals counted per trip, allowing for multiple trips by a single individual. Residents are people living in Cyprus for at least 12 months or intending such prior to travel.
