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Cyprus Tourism
Tourism was the most important source of foreign
currency in
the late 1980s, earning US$118 million in l988 and
US$126.8 million
in 1989. The "TRNC" had direct air and sea links only to
Turkey
because this country alone recognized it as an independent
nation.
Despite this handicap, the number of foreign tourists from
countries other than Turkey increased substantially in the
late
1980s, as did the foreign exchange they brought with them.
The number of tourists coming to the "TRNC" tripled
during the
1980s, from 87,000 in 1981 to 310,000 in 1990. About 20
percent of
the tourists were from countries other than Turkey. The
number of
tourist beds approximately doubled during the 1980s, to
more than
7,000 by 1990. Tourism became a year-round business, with
a
professional staff trained at the Hotel and Catering
Training
Center at Kyrenia. This facility was under the Ministry of
Tourism
and Culture. A range of accommodations was available, from
campsites to luxury hotels. Tourism was expected to
continue to
grow in the 1990s.
The expansion of tourism was especially noticeable in
the late
l980s. Earnings more than tripled between 1986 and 1989.
This
increase was a result of the government's decision in late
l986 to
make tourism the locomotive that would pull the entire
economy. To
promote the tourism industry and attract foreign
investment in it,
the government introduced a number of incentives,
including longterm , low-cost leases on government-owned land and
buildings,
exemption of many goods serving tourism from import
duties, and
exemption or moderation of some taxes.
Data as of January 1991
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