NICOSIA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Tourist arrivals in Cyprus rose by 4.8 percent in April compared with the same month last year, setting a new record, according to a Statistical Service survey published on Friday.

Compared with 314,143 travelers arriving in April 2018, their number for this year was 329,308.

From January to April this year, tourist arrivals totaled 686,783 compared with 683,581 in the same period in 2018, an increase of 3,202, or 0.5 percent.

Arrivals from the UK increased by 5.4 percent during the first four months of the year despite uncertainties surrounding Brexit, while 2.3 percent more tourists arrived from Russia and 37 percent more from Israel.

It was reported that arrivals from Greece were at the same level as last year.

A 16.4 percent decrease was recorded regarding tourist arrivals from Germany and a drop of 4.5 percent from Sweden, a traditional source of young visitors.

The UK remains the biggest market, with a proportion of 35.5 percent, followed by Russia with 15.2 percent, Israel with 7.1 percent and Greece, 6.2 percent.

Among all travelers, 78.4 percent arrived for a holiday, 14.3 percent visited friends and 7.3 percent were on the island for business.

The number of Cypriots who travelled abroad this April also increased, by 3.1 percent, to 116,970 compared with 113,477 last year.

Travel out of and into the eastern Mediterranean island is only possible by air as there are no established sea routes.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios said a week ago that tourism figures from the UK dropped at the beginning of the year and voiced concern that an ongoing nervousness about Brexit could impact the summer season and even drag on into 2020.

Haris Loizides, head of the hoteliers' association, said "estimates at this time are that 2019 will be a difficult year and we would be happy if we manage to maintain the same figures at the level of 2018 or even 2017." Enditem

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