Filenews 21 January 2026
It is not a common phenomenon to see a country other than the United Kingdom in the first place of tourist arrivals in Cyprus. Even if this happens for a month, throughout the year. As the largest tourist origin market for Cyprus, the UK has maintained the lead for years. For another country to drive a wedge into the UK and dethrone it from first place, even for a short period of time, is certainly a rare case.
December 2025 was one of those rare cases. According to data issued by the Statistical Service, in December 2025 tourist arrivals amounted to 156,959, compared to 133,063 in December 2024, an increase of 18%.
The main source of tourism for the month was Israel, with a percentage of 19,1% (30,020 arrivals), followed by the United Kingdom with 19% (29,826), Poland with 11.3% (17,779), Germany with 7.4% (11,569) and Greece with 7.3% (11,413).
So Israel was above the United Kingdom in the last month of 2025. How could this have happened? It is well known that London, as well as other cities in the UK, is a wonderful destination for the Christmas holidays and therefore, many may have preferred to stay within the borders rather than make a trip to a foreign country. Also, several cities in central Europe, such as Vienna, Strasbourg, Cologne and many others, are an ideal destination for the Christmas season and attract thousands of visitors during this period, thus creating great competition for countries such as Cyprus.
In addition to the first two, the data of the Statistics show that the entire top four has been locked with Poland and Germany closing the frame. It is known that a great effort has been made on the part of the competent bodies to enhance the arrival of visitors from Germany, since it is considered a key country for the development of the entire industry and the first results are extremely encouraging.
Specifically, from 7,535 tourists from Germany in December 2024, they increased to 11,569 in December 2025, recording an increase of 53.5%. An increase of 55.6% was also recorded in the arrival of tourists from France, but the actual numbers are much smaller. In particular, in December 2024, 1,315 tourists from France had visited our country, while in the corresponding month last year 2,046. As for Poland, which is the third largest market for Cyprus, in December 2024 12,473 tourists arrived, while in December last year 17,779, an increase of 42.5%.
Slight decrease for Scandinavian
On the negative side, the decline in arrivals from the Scandinavian countries, markets that in the past supplied our country with large numbers of tourists, can be recorded. Specifically, from Denmark there was a decrease in arrivals by 2.8%, while from Norway, the decrease had amounted to 33.2%. Sweden moved around the same level as in 2024, recording an increase of 0.4%.
It is noted that the purpose of travel in December 2025 was for 56.4% of tourists holidays, for 32.0% to visit friends or relatives and for 11.3% business.
Similarly, for December 2024, 49.6% visited Cyprus for holidays, 37.5% to visit friends or relatives and 12.7% for business. Finally, compared to the period January – December 2025, tourist arrivals amounted to 4,534,073 compared to 4,040,200 in the corresponding period of 2024, recording an increase of 12.2%.
It is recalled that, according to the latest data of the Statistics on tourism revenues, the results show that for the period January – October 2025 revenues are estimated at €3,431.4 mil. compared to €2,983.8 mil. in the corresponding period of 2024, recording an increase of 15.0%.
