CTO budget stuck at 69 mln euros, despite tourism revenue target of 1.8 bln

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation is having to suffer a restrained budget of 69 mln euros, down from 87 mln last year, despite an anticipated 1.8 bln euros in earnings for the tourism sector this year.
CTO Chairman Alecos Orountiotis said that the increase in revenue for the sector is estimated at 230-250 mln this year, with tourism’s share of GDP rising from 9% to 10%.
Revenues in January-July reached 951 mln euros, exceeding the next best year of 2008, with successive falls in 2009 and 2010. Based on the trend of tourist arrivals, he said that revenues could top 1.8 bln euros this year, near the 2008 figure of 1.79 bln.
“For 2012, we hope to at least maintain our budget at this year’s level,” Orountiotis said at an event to mark World Tourism Day.
Defending the government’s decree on cost-cutting, the CTO chairman said that the Organisation underwent “cost restraint”, despite the fact that this hampered its marketing and promotional campaigns.
Orountiotis said that the regional conflicts did not affect or increase tourism traffic to Cyprus. “Tunisia is not a competitive destination and we got a small number of tourists who did not go to Egypt.”
The CTO’s Acting Director, Lefkos Phylactides, added that the Organisation has concluded its strategic plan for 2011-2015 which includes improving quality standards of service at all levels.
Apart from its website, www.visitcyprus.com, the CTO also has a page on Facebook and has developed an app for iPhone and Android with points of interest around the island.