Cyprus’ revenue from tourism rose 4.2 percent in May, boosted by an almost 43 percent increase in Russian tourists for the month.

Tourist spending in May increased to 164.8 million euros ($202.4 million) from 158.1 million euros a year earlier, the country’s statistical service said Wednesday on its web site.

May is the second month in 2010 to show a rise in tourist spending on a yearly basis. Russian tourists spent an average of 93.4 euros a day, up from 91.4 euros last year.

The AFP news agency report:

An increase in holidaymakers from Britain and Germany helped Cyprus tourist arrivals grow by 14.8 percent in March from a year earlier — the first rise in 15 months, official figures showed Tuesday.

The statistics were a welcome boost to a tourism-dependent economy still battling to come out of recession in the face of the economic woes of its main northern European tourism markets.

Arrivals were 103,803 against 90,434 in March 2009.

For the first quarter ending in March the number of arrivals rose by 5.6 percent from 194,127 last year to 205,006.

In 2009, arrivals plunged 10.9 percent to 2.14 million holidaymakers — the lowest level of tourists since 1997.

The recession in Europe has taken its toll on the Mediterranean holiday island whose economy contracted by 1.7 percent in 2009 and may register negative growth again this year, the central bank warns.

Tourism contributes around 12 percent of the island’s GDP, and the majority of visitors come from European countries badly hit by the global downturn.

There was a 5.7 percent increase in arrivals from Britain, the island’s largest source of holidaymakers, and a 20.1 percent improvement from Germany.

However, the number of French tourists fell by 27.7 percent and arrivals from the Netherlands by 19.8 percent.

Tourism authorities are bracing for a difficult 2010, projecting that arrivals may reach the same lower levels as last year.

However, these latest figures offer some hope for a better 2010.

Income from tourism fell to an estimated 1.49 billion euros (two billion dollars) in 2009 from 1.79 billion euros in 2008 and 1.85 billion in 2007.

Bumper tourism revenues helped Cyprus achieve GDP growth of 4.4 percent in 2007 and 3.7 percent in 2008.

Cyprus’s economy has been shrinking since the first quarter of 2009 after decades of continuous robust growth.

The struggling tourism sector has sparked fears of a rise in unemployment, which could reach an unprecedented seven percent or more.

The government is trying to rein in a ballooning fiscal deficit which at 6.1 percent this year according to projections will be double the three percent of GDP set by Brussels.

On-line gambling is proving to be good news for Cyprus as more companies base themselves on the island - recentpoker.com report:

Turnover from Internet gambling on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus - legal home to the offices of many online gambling companies - reached Euro 2.5 billion in 2008 and is expected to balloon to over Euro 5 billion by 2012, the Cyprus Mail reported this week.

The newspaper was quoting Ionas Nicolaou, chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee, who said: “Ninety-five per cent of electronic gambling services in our country operate legally because they are provided over the internet and there is no authority [here] where one can apply for a permit.

” At a time when the government is refusing to license real casinos on ideological and ethical grounds, there seems to be an explosion of online casino establishments operating legally through servers in other EU countries, usually Malta, the newspaper observes.

Citing a study carried out by online gambling consultants Global Betting and Gambling, Nicolaou said the turnover in 2008 had reached €2.5 billion, and revealed that one of the three biggest providers of online gambling services on the island, with a 30 percent market share, turned over around Euro 680 million in 2007. In 2008, credit card spending on online gambling had reached Euro 100 million, Nicolaou said. The Cyprus Mail reports that tighter legislation is under discussion. At present online gambling in Cyprus falls under the Betting Law, amended in 2007 to comply with EU legislation for the free provision of services between EU members. Now, some lawmakers are seeking to re-amend the law by inserting a clause that would exclude online gambling from the acceptable list of EU services. Politician Aristofanis Georgiou said.

“The main aim is to protect Cypriot society.” Individuals who play online games from the privacy of their homes are not breaking the law. Nicolaou said it is estimated that operaors on the island made Euro 400 million in gross profit in 2008, and this will probably skyrocket in the future. He quoted one instance where 15 computers made a profit of Euro 93 000 in just two weeks.

The number of people buying a property in Cyprus has crashed - according to the island’s Land Registry the number of overseas buyers fell by an astonishing 76 per cent.

An article at assetz.news reported recently that property in Cyprus is overpriced - here is what they had to say:

I saw a report today talking about the Cyprus property market and house builders have given up giving free furnishing packs and paying for purchase costs having come to the realisation they need to offer much better deals. Overseas purchasers have reduced to around 25% of the numbers that the country was used to prior to the credit crunch.

Cyprus prices got carried away a few years ago and we moved away from the country for a while but things are now changing.

You have been able to get bargains from a resale perspective for over a year now but developers are particularly stubborn in Cyprus and the beginning of their getting real is now underway with and suggesting that 10% discounts are a superb buying opportunity. Hold out for 30% to 40% discounts as I’m sure we going to be seeing those at some point over the next 12 months otherwise many of the developers could well be going bust as they are significantly leveraged in many cases.

In many ways it’s not much different to here in the UK…

To read the full article click here

53 beaches in Cyprus have been awarded blue flags and is the top spot in Europe for water cleanliness - to read a report click here

Meanwhile the Sunday Mercury has run a good article about various location on the map of Cyprus - to read it click here

Finally, The Daily Telegraph in the UK has run a really good article about Limassol - click here to read it.

For more information about Cyprus visit http://www.yourcyprus.info

Smoking in public places is due to be outlawed from January 1 2010.

To read the Reuters report click here

Financial specialists rate Cyprus as an ideal destination - not for the Cyprus weather necessarily - but for investors and those thinking of retiring abroad (be careful though about buying property).

A really good article appeared in the UK’s Daily Mail recently - here’s an extract:

After a stop by waterfalls we went to the village-of Foini, and ate a home-cooked meal for £14 a head at the Neraida; a memorable feast of meze, charcoaled chicken and lamb, the best stuffed vine leaves I’ve ever eaten and rustic red wine.

During the Byzantine period, the Troodos Mountains became a great centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasteries were built in the mountains away from the threatened coastline.

On our way back down, we visited a monastery in the village of Omodos. With its pale cobbled courtyards and icons inside the chapel, we were left infused with that still, timelessness.

Cyprus has a huge British presence. They drive on the left and even have UK plug sockets. Yet, it was a relief to discover that part of the island still has its own identity and Cypriot integrity and there are pockets of peace and beauty that would still make Aphrodite proud.

To read the full article visit the Daily Mail by clicking here

A British politican has called for the UK to close Cyprus property developers offices in the UK.

To read why click here

On a more positive note The Times had a very good article recently about what activities there are for children during holidays in Cyprus - to read it click here