Hopes for recovery in last 5 months

Tourist arrivals dropped by 12.3% in July 2002 according to figures released on Tuesday by the Statistical Service. According to the Service, tourist arrivals in July 2002 totaled 327,404 compared to 373,385 in July 2001. The drop in arrivals in smaller than estimates made by unofficial sources but higher than the anticipated 9% drop the Ministry of Tourism expects for the whole year. For the first seven months of 2002 there was a decrease of 12.9% compared to the period from January to July of 2001, as arrivals dropped from 1,54 to 1,34m.

Commenting on the newly released figures, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Nicos Rolandis told SW that the drop lies within the ministry’s forecasts. He added that the next five months are expected to be crucial for the industry and for the economy in general. There are signs, Rolandis said, that the British market is on the rise and hence we expect the second half of 2002 to decrease the gap the first half left from last year’s arrivals.

Tourism constitutes 22% of the Cypriot GDP. In the past two years, 2,7m tourists visited the island annually, up from 2,4m in 1999.