Cyprus Tourism Demand Rebounds in 2023 – A Comprehensive Analysis of 3 Top Destinations

In the second instalment in Panadvert’s 2023 Travel Trends Analysis, we are looking at demand for Cyprus and three distinct destinations within the island – namely Pafos, Ayia Napa and Limassol. Panadvert’s Data Analysis and Performance Marketing team analysed more than 1.05 million queries that were aggregated from multiple sources (i.e., OTAS, booking engines and secondary data from search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing) concerning search periods of January 1st to March 12th in 2023 and 2022 respectively (herein referred to as “search period”). 

The results show a 66% increase in demand for Cyprus as a whole and a stunning 101% increase for Pafos, in particular, as a holiday destination compared to last year for the established search period. The following is a comparative analysis of the demand for the island of Cyprus and the three distinct destinations mentioned earlier.

Key takeaways:

• There is a rise of more than 66% in demand for Cyprus compared to 2022, while the demand for Pafos has risen more than 101%, more than 55% for Ayia Napa  and more than 53% for Limassol
• Pafos accounts for 68.2% of the total demand for Cyprus – a 13% rise compared to last year
• The British show the most interest in visiting Cyprus, followed by Israelis, Cypriots, Germans, and Hungarians
• Italians have more than quadrupled their hotel search queries for Cyprus
• After the British, the Hungarians are the most interested in visiting Ayia Napa
• Israelis have made 8 times more hotel booking queries for Limassol this year
• The British show a clear preference for visiting Cyprus in May this year instead of August that was their top choice last year
• There is a clear trend among the Israelis for visiting Cyprus in August, while Germans show a preference for May and Hungarians for July

Cyprus

According to our analysis, there were more than 380,000 search queries in the established search period in 2022, nearly ⅔ of which were made by the British. Israelis, Cypriots, Germans and Hungarians concluded the top 5. When looking at the month breakdown a clear trend is evident for the British, the Cypriots and the Israelis since they were most interested in visiting the island in August, with July following in the case of the British and the Cypriots. Germans showed a clear preference for May, while July was the winner for the Hungarians.

In 2023, the same top 5 remains intact with the only difference being that almost double the number of search queries have been recorded, with the British leaving the rest far behind. The month breakdown mirrors that of 2022, yet the British are showing a different trend this year, as the most search queries made concern May, with August about 10,000 queries below. 

The comparative analysis clearly shows the surge in demand for the whole island of Cyprus – a 73.95% increase for the top 10 countries pictured below and a total of 66.3% -, since search queries from Israel, Switzerland and Austria have more than doubled, those from Hungary, France and Poland have nearly tripled, while those from Italy have more than quadrupled (!). 

Another finding is that Poland and France have moved upwards to occupy the 6th and 7th place which is made more interesting by the fact that Panadvert ran a campaign targeting these specific markets in the second half of 2022 to promote Cyprus as a holiday destination on behalf of Hermes Airports, the operator of Larnaka and Pafos International Airports, producing more than 109,880,000 impressions. 

Pafos

Perhaps the most interesting part of the current analysis concerns the area of Pafos. The British were most intensely searching for hotel bookings in the area, followed by the Israelis, the Cypriots, the Germans and the French. As for the month breakdown, the British and Germans showed a preference for May, while the Israelis showed a clear one for August along with the Cypriots and the French. 

A completely different picture is presented in 2023 in Pafos though, according to our analysis. The Brits, Israelis and Cypriots remain in the top 3 spots, yet the Polish have firmly entered the top 5 in the 4th place along with the Germans in the 5th, leaving the French slightly behind. The month breakdown is very similar to that of 2022, as it is evident that the British and the Germans remain firm in their interest in visiting Pafos in May, joined by the new entry in the top 5, the Polish, while the Israelis and Cypriots are going for August. 

The comparative analysis is once again revealing, as an 115.5% increase in demand for Pafos is witnessed in the top 10 countries pictured below and a total of 101.23% compared to 2022. The search queries have more than doubled in the cases of the UK, Israel, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland, while they have tripled in the case of Poland and – again – more than quadrupled in the case of Italy. 

It is also worth noting that Pafos accounted for 55.3% of the total demand for Cyprus last year, while this percentage has risen to 68.2% in 2023, always concerning the search period we have established. 

Ayia Napa

When it comes to Ayia Napa, perhaps one of Cyprus’ hottest destinations, the Brits were once again in the top place searching for hotel bookings in 2022 in the established search period. The top 5 in 2022 was concluded by the Germans, the Swiss, the Hungarians and the Cypriots. Concerning the months they were planning on visiting the area, the British clearly preferred June, while Germans went for May and the Swiss and Hungarians for July. The locals were torn between June and August, showing almost equal preference for both.

In 2023 things have shifted as the UK remains steady in the top but the second place is occupied now by the Hungarians, followed by the Germans and Swiss and a new entrant in the 5th place – Austrians. The month breakdown shows similarities with that of 2022 but this time the Brits are more interested in visiting Ayia Napa in May, joining the Germans. The rest of the top 5 are going for July instead.

The comparative analysis shows again the clear rise in demand for Ayia Napa which is 67.8% for the top 10 that is pictured below and 55.8% for the total volume of the searches. The Brits and the Cypriots are showing a consistency in their queries compared to last year. Hungarians and Austrians have more than doubled their search queries in the established search period compared to 2022, while Italians and French have more than tripled their searches and Israelis have more than quadrupled theirs. 

The month breakdown also presents some interest as the aggregated month of choice seems to be shifting from 2022, where July was the most popular month for visiting Ayia Napa, while this year August is clearly taking the lead. Another interesting output is that while Ayia Napa accounted for 24.5% of the total demand for Cyprus in 2022, this year it has fallen to 22.9% for the same search period, obviously giving way to the increased popularity of Pafos.

Limassol

Limassol is the least popular destination  in Cyprus out of the three analysed in the present post, yet more than 25,000 Brits showed interest in it in 2022. Cypriots, Germans, Israelis, and French concluded the top 5. In their month preferences, the British and Israelis went for August with July following closely by in the case of the former, while the Germans showed a consistency in their choice of May with the French joining them. The Cypriots made the difference with their preference for June with May following.

The same top 5 countries are present in 2023 with the Germans claiming the second place only slightly above the Cypriots. The month breakdown, however, is revealing some stark differences compared to 2022, particularly in the case of the British, who are now showing a clear preference for visiting Limassol in May rather than August. Israelis remain firm in their interest in August, with the French joining them this time, while the Germans and Cypriots are mutually going for May and June. 

Compared to 2022, there is an upsurge in hotel booking queries in 2023 for Limassol – 44.8% for the top 10 below and 53.4% in total -, yet the British have surprisingly made less queries than they did in 2022 within the search period we have established. The Italians, on the other hand, have more than tripled their searches, the Germans, French, Swiss and Polish have quadrupled theirs, while the Austrians have made 5 times more and the Israelis 8 times more hotel booking queries for Limassol this year. 

The month preference has also shifted compared to last year, since May has risen slightly more than August, which was the clear winner in 2022. Another insight is that while Limassol accounted for 8.3% of the total demand for Cyprus in 2022, this year this percentage has fallen slightly to 7.66% in the search period we are looking at. 

Conclusion

Overall, our analysis shows a surge in demand for Cyprus and for all three destinations analysed, with the British being the most interested in visiting. Pafos, in particular, accounts for a significant portion of the total demand for Cyprus. It is, therefore, important for hospitality professionals in Cyprus to take these data into consideration and adjust their targeting strategy accordingly. 

Contact us today and our professional team, which was selected as a Google Premier Partner 2023 for the 8th consecutive year, can help you optimize your campaigns and make the most of your ad spend. 

Stay tuned for more destination demand analyses on our blog!