Cyprus bids farewell to Russian tourists — and opens up new markets

Over the course of several years, Cyprus has almost completely rebuilt its tourism market. After 2022, the island sharply reduced its dependence on Russian tourists, who had previously been one of the largest sources of visitors. Travellers from other countries, primarily the United Kingdom, Israel, Poland and Germany, gradually filled the gap. As a result, Cyprus welcomed a record 4.53 million tourists in 2025 — 12.2% more than a year earlier. The United Kingdom accounted for 31.8% of the total flow, Israel for 13%, Poland for 8.2%, Germany for 6.1%, and Greece for 3.9%.

The growth of the Polish market is particularly notable. Poland has become one of Cyprus’s key tourism markets: its share grew from approximately 2% to more than 8%. This means that the loss of Russian visitors was offset not by a single country, but by a whole group of European markets. For the tourism business, this is even more advantageous: dependence on one market is reduced, while demand is distributed among several countries.

At the same time, tourists differ not only in number but also in spending. In 2025, Cyprus’s tourism revenues increased significantly, while the average tourist left hundreds of euros on the island per trip. Travellers from some European and Middle Eastern markets spend the most, so for Cyprus’s economy, the overall number of arrivals is not the only important indicator — it also matters how much money tourists leave in hotels, restaurants, shops, car rentals and other sectors.

However, the situation began to change in 2026. During the first six months of the year, Cyprus welcomed around 1.66 million tourists, approximately 10% fewer than in the same period of 2025. This highlights an important point: even after successfully restructuring its market, the tourism industry remains highly sensitive to economic conditions, airfares, geopolitics and changing traveller preferences.

Thus, Cyprus has become an interesting example of how a tourist destination can overcome the loss of a major market. The island could not simply replace every Russian tourist with another Russian tourist — instead, it redistributed the flow of visitors among dozens of countries. The main question for Cyprus is now no longer whether it can operate without the Russian market, but whether it can maintain record tourism volumes amid a new decline in demand.