The Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO) is an organization of public interest and is administered by a nine – member Board of Directors.
The Organisation consists of the Director General’s Office and four departments: Marketing, Strategy and Research, Quality Assurance and Administration. The local regional services consist of 13 tourist information offices and 6 inspectors’ offices while the overseas services consist of 20 tourist offices.
Short Summary The Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s objective is to organize and promote tourism development in the Republic of Cyprus by using all possibilities and resources available. Within the framework of the Tourism Development Strategy, CTO is working on the enrichment, diversification and upgrading of the tourist product. In line with that objective are CTO’s efforts towards the development and promotion of special interest products, notably Cycle Tourism.
Example activities
In order to develop cycle tourism CTO is creating a national cycling network in Cyprus. Following the results of a recent study commissioned by CTO regarding the design of a rural cycle network, the initial infrastructure phase will begin in 2006 in the Troodos area. The project will be co-funded by the EU structural funds. The planned network will probably be connected to Eurovelo Route
8, the Mediterranean Route. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation is currently a partner in the Cyronmed project which is under the Archimed Interreg III B programme. Furthermore CTO provides financial support and assistance to a number of international cycling events such as tournaments and bike festivals. It has also published a cycling guidebook with information on routes between towns and regions and undertakes various promotional activities in order to promote Cyprus as an attractive cycling destination.
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