A total of 487,350 tourists arrived in Cyprus in September, the Cyprus Statistical Service said on Tuesday, an increase of 17.9 per cent over the previous year.

From January to September 2023, the country welcomed 3,136,145 tourists compared to 2,540,554 in the corresponding period of 2022, an increase of 23.4 per cent.

Arrivals from the UK were the main source of tourism in September, with a share of 34 per cent, followed by Israel with 11.7 per cent, Poland with 6.7 per cent, Germany with 5.5 per cent and Sweden with 4.6 per cent.

A total of 84.1 per cent of the total visitors were holidaymakers, followed by 10.3 per cent whose purpose was visiting friends and relatives and 5.5 per cent who travelled for business.

Moreover, a total of 140,187 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in September 2023 compared to 122,450 in the corresponding month last year, an increase of 14.5 per cent.

The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned were Greece with a share of 37.1 per cent, the UK with 8.2 per cent, Italy with 4.7 per cent and Russia with 4 per cent.