Tourism revenue up despite falling arrivals

AN increase of 2.3 per cent was recorded in revenue from tourism in 2006 compared to the previous year, reaching £1.037 billion, compared to £1.014 billion in 2005.

Responding to the figures, Pantelis Ioannides, press officer of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, told the Mail: “We are happy about the increase, which came about as a result of an increase in per person expenditure. For 2006, we saw an increase of 5.2 per cent.”

In 2005, an average of £407 per person was spent on holiday in Cyprus. In 2006, the figure rose to £428.

According to data released by the Statistical Service, based on the results of the Passenger Survey, tourist arrivals in 2006 dropped by 2.8 per cent compared to 2005, reaching 2,400,924 compared to 2,470,063 in 2005.

“We are working to find all the reasons why this decrease took place and are trying to analyse the reasons for this drop,” said Ioannides. “We know that some of the main factors contributing to the drop were the war in Lebanon, the threat of terrorism and the economies in some countries, which are sources for tourism in Cyprus.

“We are therefore taking action to reverse this trend based on specific plans such as attracting more low-cost carriers, our fresh approach to advertising and using the activities of our offices abroad.”

Furthermore, income from revenue from tourism reached £28.8 million in December 2006, compared to £30.3 million in the corresponding month of the previous year, recording a decrease of 5.2 per cent. During the same month, arrivals dropped by 6.1 per cent compared to December 2005, reaching 71,022.

“We knew that December was going to be a difficult month and we believe that things will be better in 2007,” the CTO officer said.

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.