Cyprus tops EU state for contribution of tourism to the economy

CYPRUS is the most specialised hospitality country in Europe, with over 17 per cent of the workforce employed in the sector, it emerged yesterday.
According to a Eurostat report, Cyprus tops the charts in terms of value added to the economy by hotels and restaurants.
Cyprus has 735 tourist establishments with an average bed capacity of 119.
The report shows that 12.2 per cent of value added to Cyprus business economy (excluding finance) came from this sector. This is more than twice that of Ireland, which had the next highest share.
The report explains this specialisation is due to various factors. It says “Specialisations within this activity are strongly related to climate, natural or man-made attractions (beaches, mountains, castles, etc), as well as proximity to a critical mass of potential customers (in particular for restaurants and bars)”
In addition to hospitality related workforce and value added, the report also reveals that in 2007 visitors to Cyprus booked longer stays than anywhere else in Europe. The average number of nights spent in hotels by foreigners was over a week, while foreign visitors to most other member states spend between two and four days.
Resident vacations were actually below the European average, despite there being adequate infrastructure. The report suggests that this might be because domestic travel is likely to be on business, or reflect people spending long weekends on holiday, neither of which applies to a small island.
Comparing the average number of nights spent with the number of inhabitants on the island, reveals the “tourism intensity”. Cyprus, perhaps unsurprisingly, was nearly six times the EU 27 Average, and second only to Malta. 
The report will no doubt make for uncomfortable reading for the island’s economists, as they reveal Cyprus’ heavy reliance on foreign tourism. With the latest CTO figures showing more than  a ten per cent drop in tourist arrivals and a corresponding 17 per cent decline in revenue for, it seems Cyprus could be particularly badly hit this year, with many of those employed in the hospitality becoming redundant, as many are already.
The report shows that  the hotels and restaurants workforce is atypical across the EU, as it has a relatively high proportion of women and part-time workers. “This may reflect employment
flexibility, with considerable opportunities for those seeking work outside of the normal nine to five routine for example, students,” it said.
There is a silver lining in the report, however. The figures show that Cyprus is one of the most competitive European countries in terms of tourism, with a developed infrastructure and wealth of natural resources such as beaches and mountains.
The report also reveals one strong area for potential growth

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.