THE CYPRUS Tourism Organisation (CTO) is to dish out €45 per person per night, plus €23 per child or dependent per night for hotel rooms in a new €10 million scheme being launched from the beginning of next month, Director General Phoebe Katsouri said yesterday.
Full details of the application process and the basis for qualification for the holiday vouchers will be announced by the government before May 1, Katsouri said.
“This year, domestic tourism will be a great support and shield for our tourism industry, especially the hotel sector. We are all working well together – government, the relevant authorities and social partners – to ensure that every euro is put to good use”, she said.
Out of the €10 million, some €4.5 million will be disbursed by the Labour and Social Insurance Ministry through an expanded version of the current holiday grants scheme. The existing scheme provides subsidised holidays for low-income earners who are registered members of the Social Insurance Fund, and normally runs for six weeks in July-August. The new expanded scheme will begin in June and run to the end of October.
“More members of the Social Insurance Fund – maybe double the current number – will be able to use the new scheme,” said Katsouri.
The remaining €5.5 million will be disbursed through the CTO using a voucher system, and will encourage the use of hotels all year round. Amounts have been earmarked for specific groups of people receiving benefits such as pensioners, the disabled and others, with the rest being made available for middle-income groups such as the self-employed, professionals and farmers. The government will announce the criteria for deciding who will qualify.
Katsouri said that the CTO aims to get a database of those eligible from the Labour and Social Insurance Ministry, and will ensure that they are informed of the wide range of hotel availability – including agrotourism establishments.
Those who qualify can choose where to go, and then apply to the relevant government offices [to be announced] for a voucher. They will then book their preferred hotel. At the end of their stay, they will present their voucher to hotelier in payment, and then the hotelier will apply to the CTO for reimbursement. The vouchers will cover the hotel bill up to a maximum of €45 per person per night, plus €23 per child or dependent per night. Anything over the maximum allowance would have to be paid separately. The programme allows a maximum of five nights per person, but these do not all have to be taken together.
The new CTO programme does not involve a limited amount of hotel accommodation available on a “first come, first served” basis. Rather it will be available for all hotel accommodation until the allocated funds run out. If the government finds that the available funds are not being used up, it may decide to reset the qualifying criteria or increase the allowance per person.
In addition to the new €10 million programme, the CTO is also extending its “Cyprus Short Escapes – Great Discoveries” programme by popular demand. Katsouri said: “This was very successful over the winter, with demand exceeding supply, so we are extending the programme to June.” A total of 18 hotels and 27 restaurants across Cyprus are part of the programme, and prices start from €50 per person in a three-star hotel, €60 in a four-star hotel and €75 in a five-star hotel.
This programme offers low-cost weekend packages, based on accommodation in a double room from Saturday noon to a late Sunday afternoon checkout. They include dinner at the hotel with entertainment, breakfast and a Sunday lunch at a choice of restaurants in the surrounding district. With each package comes a complimentary CTO guided tour from the relevant local list covering a range of themes – for example, wine routes, churches, nature walks – designed to provide an “enriched experience”.
• Bookings for the “Cyprus Short Escapes” programme can be made through Top Kinisis Travel’s webpage www.cyprusshortescapes.com or by phone to the travel agency at 22713760.
