Blue economy sectors

The travel and tourism industry is the largest commercial sector of Cyprus, contributing 22.3% of the country’s GDP in 2017. The number of tourist arrivals in 2017 reached 3,652,073, corresponding to an increase of 14.6% from 2016. Europe is the traditional tourist market for Cyprus, with visitors from European countries constituting 87.5% of the total tourist arrivals in 2017, while visitors from the European Union countries making up 59.7%. The United Kingdom is the most important source of tourism to the island and its share was 34.3% of the total tourist traffic in 2017, followed by Russia with 22.6%, Israel with 7.1%, Germany with 5.2%, and Greece with 4.6%. Τhe total revenue from tourism during this period was estimated at €2,639.1 million compared to €2,363.4 million in 2016, recording an increase of 11.7%. The majority of tourists stated to have stayed in coastal areas of the island, such as Pafos and Polis, Ayia Napa, Paralimni, Larnaka, and Lemesos.

Star hotels are the most common type of tourist accommodation in Cyprus, with a total capacity of 55,202 beds in 231 hotels by the end of 2017 (51,270 beds in 192 hotels situated in the coastal areas of Lemesos, Larnaka, Ammochostos and Pafos). Apart from hotels, there are also other establishments, including hotel apartments and tourist villages, tourist villas, traditional buildings, guesthouses and campsites. In total, coastal areas host 676 accommodation establishments with 80,912 beds. The total number of arrivals during 2017 in these establishments amounted to 2,622,103 over 16,405,027 guest nights.

In 2017, around 85,000 people were employed in the travel and tourism sector, accounting for 22.7% of the total workforce of the island. This figure includes jobs directly supporting the sector, such as in hotels, travel agents, airlines, restaurants and leisure activities, as well as jobs indirectly supported by the industry (in retail trade, transportation services and cultural and sports services, among others).

Cypriot beaches are ranked as some of the best in Europe, having excellent cleanliness, water quality and safety, as well as eco-initiatives. For this reason, the island has been awarded a total of 57 Blue Flags, meaning Cyprus currently possesses the highest number of Blue Flag beaches per capita and the most Blue Flag Beaches per 100 km coastline in the world.