Tourist revenues in November recorded a sharp drop of 11.4%, denying expectations for a recovery in the Cyprus tourist industry. According to CYSTAT data released on Wednesday, total revenues in November reached £43.1 million against £48.7 million in 2003. For January-November 2004, tourist revenues stood at £953.5 million compared to £982.2 million in the corresponding period of 2003 (-2.9%).

This drop in tourist revenues was larger than that of the tourist arrivals that stood at -7.9%. Tourist arrivals in January-November recorded an increase of 2.3% compared to the corresponding period of 2003. It is noted that the CTO and the Finance Ministry anticipated an increase of 5% in tourist arrivals and unchanged figures for the tourist revenues.

The prospects of the island’s tourism was the major issue of discussion at the meeting between the Finance Ministry, the CTO and the Statistics’ Service. Talks focused on the drop in the tourist spending per capita, which is attributable to the insufficient recovery of the world tourist industry and the differentiation of the international tourist trends.