March 2017 tourist arrival records 2.8% increase in Cyprus

2016 was a Record year for Tourists arriving in Cyprus and already 2017 looks like it will beat last years record as well ! 

Tourist arrivals to Cyprus on an annual basis recorded an increase of 2.8% in March 2017 compared with the same month last year, the Cyprus Statistical service reported on Tuesday.

An increase of 13.5% was also noted in the first quarter of the year the statistical service said. 

At the same time, more Cypriot residents travelled abroad, with returning residents recording an annual increase in March 2017 of 19.2%.

This factor is due to the large increase of Budget Flight Airlines that have added many more flights to and from Cyprus , plus the fact of continued troubles in the once popular holiday destinations of Egypt and Turkey. 

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, tourist arrivals were 140,873 in March 2017 compared to 137,013 in March 2016, recording an increase of 2.8%.

This March has seen the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during this month.

For the period January-March 2017 arrivals of tourists totalled 285,693 compared to 251,608 in the same period of 2016, recording an increase of 13.5%

According to the Statistical Service’s press release tourist arrivals from Russia increased by 55.1% in March 2017 compared to March 2016 while an increase of 10.7% was recorded for tourists from Greece.

Important tourist markets

More tourists also chose Cyprus as a destination this March from other important tourist markets, such as Israel (94.9%) and France (15.9%).

The United Kingdom and Russia constitute the main sources of tourism for Cyprus for March 2017, holding a share of 38.7% and 14.1% respectively, while arrivals from Greece comprise 9.6% and from Israel 7.1% of total arrivals.

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, 102,758 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in March 2017 compared to 86,229 in the corresponding month last year, recording an increase of 19.2%.

In March 2017 there was an increase of 22.4% in the trips of residents to Greece up from 31,570 in March 2016 to 38,638 in March 2017 and 22.3% increase from the United Kingdom up from 16,940 to 20,726 this year.

Source: CNA

EASTER CUSTOMS OF CYPRUS

Pascha, the Majestic Feast in the Heart of Spring “and so shall bloom the spring of faith” in our hearts

Pascha, the most luminous feast of Christianity and the greatest feast of Hellenism and the people of Cyprus, who call it, “Lambri”, “the Bright One” since it shines with the light of 
Resurrection that bathes life and all its facets: morals, customs and tradition. As the Services of Holy Week coincide with Spring, the divine Passions seem to relate to the passions and resurrection of Nature and man. It is, after all, the time to bid farewell to the long and absolute silence of Nature, to the agonising period of gestation in anticipation of welcoming the fruits, the flowers: of orange, pomegranate, rose, yarrow, lilly and the colours. 
Everything predisposes the great triumph of life, renewed life, the redemption of the living, the Resurrection of the dead as descriped in the triumphant Paschal hymn: