THE Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) is committed to strengthening sports tourism further, its chairman said yesterday, as visitors in 2011 recorded a 19 per cent rise.
CTO chairman Alecos Orountiotis said sports tourism was an asset in its portfolio of alternative forms of tourism, attracting almost 12,900 visitors in 2011 and generating some €20 million in revenues.
“This is why we are determined to work harder, to exert greater collective effort, so that we strengthen the sector of sports tourism,” Orountiotis said.
According to a survey carried out by the CTO, football has the lion’s share when it comes to visitor numbers – 5,918 – followed by swimming with 3,226 and cycling with 2,212.
The average length of stay was around 10.7 nights.
Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca attracted most visitors, the CTO survey said, and Russia, Germany, and Britain were the main sources, chalking up 33 per cent of the total.
Most visits, 39 per cent, were recorded between February and March.
Orountiotis said Cyprus must exploit its good weather conditions, its geography, infrastructure and services to strengthen sports tourism further.
The island’s tourism industry has seen a boom in the past couple of years, mainly driven by a rise in the number of Russian visitors.
Last year saw a 42 per cent growth in tourist arrivals from Russia, which led to 3.0 per cent increase in Cyprus’ overall tourist arrivals.
Last year’s total arrivals were 2,464,908 compared with 2,392,228 in 2011.
The increase in tourist arrivals from Russia was 140,340 - a total of 474,419 people, from 334,079 in 2011.