Cyprus braces for lower tourism numbers and revenue

The Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO) expects that the decline in tourism arrivals in 2009 will exceed 10%, which would represent a decline of EUR 250 mln in foreign exchange earnings from tourism.
In 2008, tourist arrivals fell 0.5% to 2.4 mln while tourism revenue amounted to EUR 1.8 bln, a drop of 3.5% compared to EUR 1.86 bln revenue in 2007. The CTO attributes the decline to the deterioration of Cyprus’ competitiveness compared to other tourism destinations (Turkey, Serbia, Egypt, Malta etc).
CTO’s officials argued that their strategy should focus on customers’ needs and expectations, whilst at the same time, efforts should focus in attracting tourists from new markets as the UK market is declining sharply. The slump in housing prices, sharp decline in most asset values and rising unemployment have forced the global economy into recession. Consumer spending meanwhile has slumped and one of the first areas where consumers have limited their spending is travel abroad.