Tourism in Cyprus
Cyprus recorded a total of 3 million tourists in 2016, ranking 65th in the world in absolute terms.That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Cyprus, the result is much more comparable picture: With 2.7 tourists per resident, Cyprus ranked 24th in the world. In Western Asia, it ranked 2nd.
Cyprus generated around 2.76 billion US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 12.73 percent of its the gross domestic product.
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Development of the tourism sector in Cyprus from 1995 to 2016
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Cyprus each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g. crew members of ships or flights are also not considered as tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all countries in Western Asia.
Revenues in tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 2.02 billion USD, or about 20.55 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 2.10 million tourists at that time and roughly 961 USD per person. Within 21 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased substantially. In the last year of the survey, the revenue now amounts to 2.76 billion USD, accounting for 13.67 percent of the gross national product. Each visitor now spends an average of 865 USD for his holiday in Cyprus.Annual receipts as percentage of the gross national product:
All data for Cyprus in detail
| Year | Number of tourists | Receipts | \% of GNP | Expences per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2.10 m | 2.02 bn $ | 20.55 % | 961 $ |
| 1996 | 1.95 m | 1.91 bn $ | 19.25 % | 977 $ |
| 1997 | 2.09 m | 1.85 bn $ | 19.29 % | 886 $ |
| 1998 | 2.22 m | 1.92 bn $ | 18.56 % | 865 $ |
| 1999 | 2.43 m | 2.09 bn $ | 19.70 % | 859 $ |
| 2000 | 2.69 m | 2.10 bn $ | 20.60 % | 781 $ |
| 2001 | 2.70 m | 2.18 bn $ | 20.63 % | 808 $ |
| 2002 | 2.42 m | 2.12 bn $ | 18.22 % | 876 $ |
| 2003 | 2.30 m | 2.32 bn $ | 15.90 % | 1,007 $ |
| 2004 | 2.35 m | 2.55 bn $ | 14.65 % | 1,086 $ |
| 2005 | 2.47 m | 2.62 bn $ | 14.00 % | 1,060 $ |
| 2006 | 2.40 m | 2.67 bn $ | 13.10 % | 1,113 $ |
| 2007 | 2.42 m | 3.10 bn $ | 12.86 % | 1,282 $ |
| 2008 | 2.40 m | 3.20 bn $ | 11.50 % | 1,332 $ |
| 2009 | 2.14 m | 2.46 bn $ | 9.5 % | 1,147 $ |
| 2010 | 2.17 m | 2.42 bn $ | 9.5 % | 1,116 $ |
| 2011 | 2.39 m | 2.71 bn $ | 9.9 % | 1,132 $ |
| 2012 | 2.47 m | 2.73 bn $ | 10.91 % | 1,108 $ |
| 2013 | 2.41 m | 3.02 bn $ | 12.54 % | 1,256 $ |
| 2014 | 2.44 m | 2.92 bn $ | 12.50 % | 1,196 $ |
| 2015 | 2.66 m | 2.49 bn $ | 12.65 % | 936 $ |
| 2016 | 3.19 m | 2.76 bn $ | 13.67 % | 865 $ |
All data correspond to the information of the World Tourism Organization.