NICOSIA: British and German tourists stayed away from Cyprus in March but the number of Russian visitors rose as arrivals on the Mediterranean island plunged 16.3 per cent from March 2013, official data showed on Thursday.

The 16.3pc drop to 77,533 from 92,620 in March 2013 was the largest dip in tourist arrivals for 13 months, and followed an increase recorded in February.

There was a 22.5pc drop in the number of holidaymakers from Britain, the isla nd’s number one market, falling to 30,368 from 39,170 in March 2013.

The number of tourists arriving from Greece dropped by 12.6pc and the number coming from Germany dived 41.5pc.

But this was offset by the all-important Russian market, which improved 5.8pc on last year.

For the first three months of 2014, tourist arrivals totalled 163,436 compared to 177,233 for the same period of 2013, a drop of 7.8pc.