Polish Tourists in Cyprus. Fewer Arrivals Despite Record-Breaking September

Polish tourists in Cyprus remain one of the most important markets for the local industry, but September figures show a decline. In 2026, 41,636 arrivals from Poland were recorded—a 7.5% decrease from the previous year. Poland maintained its third place, behind the United Kingdom and Israel.

At the same time, Cyprus recorded a record September: 580,889 tourist arrivals, a 1.8% increase compared to a year ago. However, the month's strong performance was not enough to make up for earlier losses. From January to September, arrivals remained 5.6% below last year's level.

Polish Tourists in Cyprus. September Weaker Than in the Two Previous Years

Data published on October 19 by the Cypriot statistical office Cystat shows that Poland was responsible for 7.2% of September arrivals.

Compared to September 2025, there were 3,383 fewer arrivals. This year's result was also lower than in September 2024, when 42,295 arrivals originated from the Polish market. The difference compared to that month is approximately 1.6%.

Arrivals from Poland in September

Year	Number of arrivals
2024	42 295
2025	45 019
2026	41 636

In September 2026, there were 7.5% fewer arrivals from Poland than a year earlier.

It is worth clarifying that Cystat assigns tourists to country of habitual residence, not citizenship. Arrivals from Poland therefore do not only mean travel by people with Polish passports.

The statistics also describe the number of trips, not unique individuals. A single tourist visiting the island multiple times may be counted multiple times.

Britain and Israel raised their score

The UK remained the largest market, with growth recorded in September. 184,345 arrivals, 2.8 percent more than a year ago.

Israel recorded a much stronger increase. The number of arrivals increased by 31.4 percent, to 105,249Together, both markets accounted for almost half of September's tourist traffic.

The scale of the increase from Israel was particularly significant: there were 25,134 more arrivals from there than a year earlier. This was more than twice the increase in Cyprus's entire September total.

The additional traffic from this market therefore offset some of the losses recorded in other countries. Greece also recorded growth, while declines were seen in countries such as Germany, Sweden, and Romania.

The weaker Polish result appeared already in August

September's data marks another month of declining arrivals from Poland. August saw 36,622, a 12.5% drop compared to the previous year.

In September, the annual decline was smaller, but the Polish market still remained below its 2025 level. Therefore, the industry-wide record should not be equated with uniform improvement across all countries.

Over 203,000 fewer arrivals since the beginning of the year

From January to September, Cyprus recorded 3,401,538 tourist arrivalsIn the same period in 2025, there were 3,604,790 of them. The difference is 203,252.

September narrowed that gap, but didn't eliminate it. A record-breaking month doesn't necessarily mean a record-breaking result for the entire season so far.

Arrival data also doesn't reflect industry revenue. It doesn't allow for an independent assessment of how much travelers spent in hotels, restaurants, or on excursions, or how long they stayed on the island.

Despite September's decline, Poland maintained its place ahead of Germany, Greece, and Sweden. However, for businesses serving Polish visitors, the performance of their market remains crucial—even as Cyprus's overall statistics are record-breaking.