According to CYSTAT data released on Friday, tourist revenues in July 2006 recorded an increase of 10.6% to £155 million against £140.1 million in the corresponding month of 2005. In January-July, the tourist revenues soared 5.8% to £542.2 million against £512.5 million in the corresponding period of 2005.

Tourist arrivals for the same month inched up 0.7%, while they recorded a drop of 1.3% in January-July.

CTO

The Cyprus Tourism Organizations appeared satisfied by the increased tourist revenues, stressing that this was a result of the increased spending per visitor. It is worth noting that the average spending per capita stood at £454 against £413.3 in July 2005 (+9.8%). The average daily spending also showed an increase of 9.7% to £42.35 against £38.59 last year.

Spending per capita

Same data revealed that the Russian tourists had the highest spending per capita in July (£613.68), followed by the Dutch (£532.74) and the Norwegians (£485.92). The Russian and Dutch spending per capita in July 2005 stood at £482.67 and £433.15 respectively, while that of the Norwegians reached £498.60.

“The increased spending per capita was observed throughout 2006 and justifies the increase in tourist revenues by 5.8% despite the drop in tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2006”, CTO Chairman, Panos Egglezos stated.

“The latest figures reflect the joint effort to enforce the Strategic Plan for Tourism 2003-2010, which aims to attract quality tourism”, he added.

“The quality of our tourist product and its constant enrichment is among the targets of the new CTO Board of Directors. This is how Cyprus will deal with the harsh competition among the tourist destinations”, he concluded.