President of the Republic Demetris Christofias said on Wednesday that the tourism sector was a top priority for the government and assured that “the development and progress of tourism is a strategic goal, to which, with the collective efforts and substantive contribution of everyone, we will continue to respond with success.“

Addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (ACTE), President Christofias referred to the problems caused by the global financial crisis and noted that “with specific measures and initiatives we have managed to reverse the downward course and lead the tourism sector in Cyprus to positive growth once again.“

“The government, with the timely implementation in 2009 and the expansion of the package of measures to support the tourism industry in 2010, actively supported the tourist economy, preventing much steeper downward trends in 2009 and contributed to the creation of recovery conditions in 2010,“ he said.

He added that “in 2010 there was an increase in revenue from tourism around 5% and, according to all available data and indications, despite the variable nature of the tourist sector, we expect an even more significant rise this year.“