Number of crossings to north increases in 2017

An increase has been recorded this year in the numbers of tourists – especially from the UK and Israel – who cross from the government controlled areas to the north for a visit, it was reported in the north on Friday.
According to Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen, citing data by the ‘ministry of tourism and environment’, by the end of November 366,726 people that had arrived on the island through Larnaca airport from Britain crossed to the north. Some 43,090 of these travellers were Turkish Cypriots and the rest were foreign nationals. Last year the equivalent number was 288,976 people.
It added that so far this year 112,094 Israelis have crossed to the north compared to 34,614 in 2016.
An increase was also reported in the numbers of Russians and Germans crossing to the north. By the end of November 96,794 Germans had crossed compared to 66,014 last year.
As regards Russians, a 37.1per cent increase was recorded compared to last year when 68,619 people from Russia who arrived through Larnaca visited the north.
The daily reported that this year 91,953 Greek nationals crossed to the north.
In total, more than 1.4 million foreign nationals crossed from the government controlled areas to the north, Yeni Duzen said.
It added that Turkish Cypriots crossed to the government controlled areas more frequently than Greek Cypriots to the north.
Turkish Cypriots had crossed to the south more than 1.66 million times by the end of November, while Greek Cypriots had crossed to the north 991,164 times.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.