Cyprus residents flock abroad as overseas trips top two million milestone

Greece remains favourite as Cyprus residents set new outbound travel record Cyprus residents are expected to make a record 2.1 million trips abroad this year, up from 1.96 million in 2025, according to the Association of Cyprus Travel & Tourism Agents (ACTTA), with Greece remaining the dominant destination. ACTTA president Charis Papacharalambous told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) on Friday that overseas travel by Cyprus residents was increasing by around 7 per cent, putting the total on course to exceed two million for the first time. “I believe we will have a new record. If we had 1.96 million trips last year, this year we will reach 2.1 million,” Papacharalambous said. The projected total would amount to around 2.2 trips per permanent resident each year, he added. Papacharalambous said the most important development was that residents continued to travel, with overseas trips increasingly viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury. “The resident of Cyprus continues to travel,” he said, attributing part of the increase to improved air connectivity, which has expanded the range and frequency of available destinations. Although the expansion of air links has been driven primarily by efforts to attract inbound tourism, it has also created more options for people living on the island, he said. Around 85 per cent of trips by Cyprus residents are to European destinations, including the United Kingdom, while almost 70 per cent are to EU member states. Greece remains by far the most popular destination, accounting for around 33 per cent of all trips. Italy, Poland, France and Germany are among the other leading destinations, while Spain, Romania and Poland have also recorded significant percentage increases in demand. Interest in longer-haul destinations has also been growing, particularly the United States and Japan. Japan has gained steadily in popularity among Cyprus travellers over the past two to three years, Papacharalambous said. Those choosing Japan are mainly older travellers and families with older children, he added. Thailand is also returning to travellers’ choices after interest in the destination declined for one to two years. Turning to inbound tourism, Papacharalambous said arrivals in July were close to last year’s level, although performance varied considerably between source markets. European markets continued to trail their 2025 performance, partly because of changes to flight schedules following the events in March and the broader economic situation in important tourist-source countries. The British market was close to the level recorded in July last year, but remained around 11 per cent below last year’s level so far this year. Arrivals from EU countries were also down, by around 9.5 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2025. The Israeli market has provided an important counterbalance, recording a substantial increase over the past two months. “We had around 80,000 to 90,000 more Israelis in the past two months than last year,” Papacharalambous said. The increase from Israel reached around 165 per cent in June, he added. However, the sharp rise in Israeli arrivals does not necessarily translate into an equivalent increase in overnight stays because Israeli visitors tend to stay for shorter periods than the average European tourist. As a result, overnight stays are estimated to have declined more sharply than overall arrival figures suggest. Papacharalambous also highlighted the need to strengthen Cyprus’s winter tourism market, describing it as the industry’s key challenge. “The important thing, our challenge, remains winter tourism,” he said. Efforts were already being made to strengthen the market, but he described them as sporadic and lacking a long-term plan. He argued that a significant expansion of winter tourism could not be achieved effectively without specific long-term planning. Such planning would need to create the necessary conditions for the market to develop while providing certainty for businesses and investors committing money to Cyprus’s tourism product. “Those who invest must know that the product will exist,” Papacharalambous stressed. Asked about the prospects for Cyprus tourism in 2027, he explained that the continuing uncertainty surrounding the geopolitical environment in the wider region made it impossible to provide reliable forecasts.