In a joint written statement, Messrs. Pyrillis and Karousos state that "the first in the preferences of tourists was and remains the District of Famagusta, despite the fact that some, who should know the reality and know how to interpret the statistics, insist on opposite".
The two mayors wrote in a written statement referring to CTO President Angelos Loizou at a recent news conference that "tourists show a preference for Paphos and Polis Chrysochous and then to Famagusta", Limassol, Larnaca and Larnaca. .
"We call on the President of the CTO to resign in case he does not immediately withdraw his statements regarding the areas that are first in the preferences of tourists," the statement said.
In the announcement, Mr. Pyrillis and Mr. Karousos add that "our goal is not to come into conflict with Paphos or any other Province, but to restore the reality, which is clearly attributed to the statistics of the Statistical Service, which some insist on ignoring. ».
According to the Statistical Service, the joint announcement states "in 2013 the Province of Famagusta with a 6-month tourist season, had 6,313.477 overnight stays from foreign visitors or 46,7%, ie almost two million more than the second Province, Paphos, which has year-round tourism, which had 2% of overnight stays. As for 33,3, the numbers are around the same levels, both in arrivals and overnight stays ".
The data, the two mayors add, "confirm that Ayia Napa and Protaras remain the flagship of Cypriot tourism with the largest contribution to the economy of Cyprus." About 50% of tourism revenue, amounting to 2,1 billion euros, comes from the Famagusta District.
We consider "unacceptable the fact that the person in charge of tourism makes such misleading statements that it is unknown what they intend. We call on the President of the CTO to immediately withdraw the statements, otherwise he should immediately resign from the position of the President of the CTO ", reads the written announcement of the Mayors of Paralimni and Ayia Napa, concluding that" the numbers are there and no one has the right to alters ".
Disappointment with the CTO
The Cypriot Tourism Organization (KOT) issued a clarification statement on the occasion of, as it states, “news website reports referring to statements made by the Mayors of Ayia Napa and Paralimni regarding the revocation of data mentioned by the President of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Council otherwise, in submitting his resignation ”.
The CTO "expresses frustration with both the content and the way in which the statements of the Mayors are expressed in the media" and states that "at a time when our tourism is recording historical records, cooperation and coordination between all institutions is key. for continuous progress and development of the sector ”.
He added that "the collective goal of all of us should be to address the problems and challenges of tourism both nationally and locally, while attitudes that spoil the good climate among tourism partners can only cause harm."
The CTO said in a statement that "in the presentation of the President of the CTO, data were reported on the share of total tourist arrivals in Cyprus, residing in each region, regardless of the type of accommodation and this share is extracted from the sample survey conducted by Statistics. A service in which tourists are asked about their area of residence and based on this the area of Paphos / P. Chrysochous is the first to be presented in the preferences of tourists ".
He adds that “the data, which the Mayors refer to, refer to a different index and more specifically to the nights of travelers in licensed tourist accommodation as they are submitted to the Organization by the hoteliers on a monthly basis. Based on these data, the area of Famagusta does record the largest number of overnight stays in all areas ".
The CTO states that "there is no doubt that in addition to the many elements that were analyzed in the recent press conference, there are other statistics of tourism that one can draw and analyze."
"The President of the CTO could speak for hours if his goal was to exhaust any kind of analysis of statistical data related to tourism, instead, the mature, detailed and detailed presentation of the numbers for tourism was chosen. which was informative and based on the official data of the state ", KOT continues.
He also said that "the analysis of total arrivals in Cyprus and not overnight stays in licensed accommodation is in no way related to an attempt to promote one province over another and these suspicions are offensive and categorically rejected."
According to the CTO, "tourist arrivals are the most common indicator of tourism performance and this is because, together with revenue, they give a representative and overall picture of tourism in a destination."
"Although the number of nights spent in licensed tourist accommodation is also an interesting statistic, it does not include a very significant percentage of tourists who come to Cyprus and live beyond licensed tourist accommodation such as in private homes, relatives and friends, etc. etc. ”, reports KOT.
He wonders, “Shouldn't these travelers be counted? Don't they leave income to our economy? Would it be better to analyze the data without calculating the large percentage of these tourists? ”
In closing, KOT states that "the door of the Organization has always been and remains open to all tourism agencies, for views, suggestions and observations, in a spirit of good cooperation and constructive dialogue, for the good of tourism and the country in general."
Source: KYPE