Ministry's robust €65.2M budget signals ambitious 2024 plans

At 65.2 million euros, the proposed budget of the Ministry of Tourism for 2024 surpasses previous years, accounting for initial budgets and excluding additional expenditures.

Since the establishment of the Deputy Ministry in 2019, its initial budget was €47.8 million, with additional expenditure of €4.3 million.

In 2020, expenditure amounted to EUR 52.8 million, with additional spending of EUR 4.2 million. In 2021 (budget EUR 47 million), additional expenditure was around EUR 16 million. In 2022 (budget EUR 53.5 million), additional spending was around EUR 16.6 million, while in 2023 (budget EUR 53.5 million), it was EUR 38.79 million, including 16.4 million in promotion expenditure.

During the presentation of the 2024 budget to the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, Deputy Minister of Tourism Costas Koumis stated that 50% of the available appropriations are for actions to promote the destination and enrich the tourism product, such as information campaigns, participation in exhibitions, and grant projects. The remainder will be used to purchase sectors with fixed costs such as salaries, operating costs, and social benefits. He also mentioned that the Ministry of State is currently re-evaluating promotional activities and actions aimed at enriching the tourism product.

Promotion Costs:
Promotion expenditure absorbs 25.25% of the Ministry's budget, totaling EUR 16.4 million. This includes cooperation projects with tour operators and airlines (EUR 10 million), advertising campaigns in tourist markets (EUR 5 million), promotion of specific forms of tourism (EUR 500 thousand), organization of public relations events abroad (EUR 500 thousand), production of material for digital promotion (EUR 148 thousand), development and promotion of the 'authentic routes' program (EUR 100 thousand), and other actions (EUR 172 thousand). According to the Deputy Minister's presentation, the total expenditure for promotional purposes amounts to 19.7 million euros, consistent with 2022 and 2023. For 2024, in addition to the expenditure for promotional purposes, an amount of 2.65 million euros relates to participation in exhibitions and other events, and 650 thousand euros for hospitality.

Grants:
Expenditure on grants amounts to EUR 12.8 million, representing 19.63% of the budget. Of this amount, €11.241 million concerns projects to promote specific forms of tourism, with the lion's share - €8.1 million - going to actions under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. An amount of EUR 1.5 million concerns the sponsorship of actions by the six tourism development and promotion companies (TDCs), and EUR 75 thousand concerns the sponsorship of actions by the Cyprus Agri-tourism Company.

Hosting of Refugees:
EUR 12.3 million is allocated for the hosting of refugees. This includes €8.4 million for Ukrainian refugees until March 2024, €3.6 million for hosting unaccompanied minor applicants for international protection from third countries, €300 thousand for local industry training actions aimed at improving services, especially in mountainous, rural, and disadvantaged areas, and €15 thousand for exceptional sponsorships. The amount for the salaries of officials, state employees, and hourly staff of the Ministry of State, together with allowances and employer contributions, totals EUR 11 million, representing 16.87% of the budget.

Expenditure on Infrastructure Projects:
The annual budgets of the Ministry of State include appropriations for the purchase of services related to the procedures for the award and management of lease contracts for tourism product enrichment projects. As such, an amount of 360 thousand euros relates to the purchase of consultancy services for the development of a marina in Kissonerga, Paphos, a provision of 35 thousand euros for the management of the Paralimni marina contract, and a corresponding amount for consultancy services purchasing issues related to the development of yacht berthing facilities.

[This article was translated from its Greek original]