Tourist arrivals still on the increase in September

Tourism arrivals in the Republic of Cyprus saw an increase of 10.2% in September, compared to the same month last year, following a massive jump in Russian arrivals, as Cyprus Mail reports. According to the statistical service, tourist arrivals have been following an upward trend since May, based on a year-on-year analysis. For the period between January and September 2012, tourist arrivals reached 2,064,118 compared to 1,974,147 the corresponding period in 2011, marking a 4.6% increase overall. Last month recorded a 10.2% increase, from 304,260 arrivals in September 2011 to 335,352 this September. The breakdown given shows a massive year-on-year increase of 54.7% in Russian tourist arrivals last month- from 49,863 to 77,149. September arrivals from Greece saw a 2.1% increase (from 10,817 to 11,044), from Norway a 9.4% increase (from 9,340 to 10,221) and a 22% increase from Switzerland (from 6,223 to 7,593). Meanwhile, tourist arrivals in the north-occupied area increased by 24% in the first months of 2012, reported Turkish Cypriot paper Yeni Duzen.