The island nation beat out plenty of popular tourist spots, including Austria with 97.7 percent, Greece with 97.1 percent, Malta with 96.6 percent, and Croatia with 96.1 percent. Note that Greece, Malta, and Croatia are also open to US travelers who are keen to bathe in their sumptuous waters.
This news will undoubtedly boost the Cyprus tourist sector, which makes up 13 percent of its gross domestic product but suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic after tourist arrivals took an 84 percent plunge from a record-setting year in 2019, according to the Associated Press.
The EEA report credits the improvement of European waters over the last 40 years to reduced pollution thanks to environmental laws and the EU’s Bathing Water Directive. Only 296 of the 22,276 bathing sites tested in the 27 European countries (plus Albania, Switzerland, and the UK), ranked “poor.” 