INCOME from tourism rose seven per cent to £1.27 billion in 2001, the Tourism Ministry said yesterday.
Some 2.69 million people visited the island last year, a 0.4 per cent increase from 2000, when arrivals reached 2.68 million. The overall rise comes despite a steady decline in arrivals since September 11.
Income from tourism reached £1.19 billion pounds in 2000, the ministry said.
Authorities expect a slower economic growth this year based on an anticipated decline in tourists after the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Month-on-month arrivals have been steadily dropping since last September, culminating in a December fall of 20 per cent.
The Central Bank last week issued a forecast of Cyprus’ economy expanding by 2.5 per cent this year, while the Finance Ministry issued a forecast of 2.8 per cent. The island’s economy grew by an estimated 3.7 per cent in 2001.
The Central Bank’s 2002 growth forecast includes an estimated five per cent decline in tourism arrivals.
Since 1997, total arrivals have risen by 29 per cent. Income has increased by 51.5 per cent from £843 million in 1997 to last year’s record £1.27 billion.
“This percentage is very important because it confirms once again the vital role played by tourism in the Cyprus economy,” said a Ministry representative.
Tourism is a key component of the economy, representing around one fifth of the island’s gross domestic product.
The government said the statistics were favourable and attributed them to its policies of upgrading the services on offer.
Minister Nicos Rolandis was yesterday abroad and unavailable for comment.
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.
