Cyprus-record tourism.

aimed at stemming the flow of license plate returns to authorities by owners seeking to avoid payment of the tax – proved fruitless as the ministry’s agencies required more time to amend the road tax payable by December 31. The tax slips will be uploaded on the ministry’s gsis.gr website in the next few days.

Almost 3 million tourists visited Cyprus in the first 10 months of 2016, data showed on Thursday, ensuring a record year for the island seen as a regional safe haven. The Finance Ministry said the number of tourists visiting the Eastern Mediterranean country rose 20.3 percent to 2,974,412 in January-October compared with the same period in 2015. Arrivals in October alone increased 32.6 percent from 2015 to 357,194, it said, meaning Cyprus has already beaten its previous best figures for a full year: 2.69 million posted in 2001. Cyprus has benefited from an upsurge in arrivals, especially from its largest markets Britain and Russia, along with a revival in those coming from Greece and Israel. The island is seen a safe haven for tourists, with other traditionally popular destinations in the Eastern Mediterranean – including Egypt and Turkey – having been hit by upheaval in the past few years. Its latest figures for October included a 16.9 percent rise in the number of tourists from Britain, the country’s largest source of holidaymakers, said the Finance Ministry.