Property prices and rents fell across all districts in the fourth quarter of 2011  according to the RICS Cyprus Property  Price index as the crisis in the Greek economy continued to take a toll.

Other factors cited were the slowdown in mortgage  and corporate lending, the increased cost of electricity, and the rising rate of unemployment.

“The combination of the  above, along with the decrease in salaries  of government workers and uncertainty surrounding Cyprus’ banking system , led to a decrease in retail spending and a slowdown of the economy,” it said.

Whilst the first and second quarters saw some signs of muted economic growth, the third  and forth quarters  saw investors postpone their decision making and banks retrenching by limiting the amount of credit available.

The led to a low transaction turnover and to reduced interest, especially by local buyers, as they were more affected by the increase in unemployment and the decrease in credit.

The property price Index recorded a disappointing  behaviour in property prices across Cyprus’ major urban areas , with prices and rents falling across all district.

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 After a bumper  tourism year Cyprus suffered its first did in arrivals for a while in February  when the number of visitors was down  11% on the same month in 2011, official date showed.

Moreover, it is the first time arrivals have reversed since march 2011.

Local tourism had been one of the few bright spots during financial meltdown in the eurozone which has hurt the Cyprus economy.

In February the number of arrivals fell 11% to 55,420 against 62,294 for the same month last year.

There were sizeable decreases in tourists from the island’s largest market Britain   5,7%(down to 20,827 from 22,095), while other main stays Germany were down 4,6% (8,427) and Greece dipped  9,6% (7,211).

However, arrivals were significantly up from Russia 10,2% (4253) and France   18,5% (7,211).

For the first two months January-February  arrivals are down 3,5% to 103,030 from 106,736   for the same period in 2011.

A significant 10,1% increase was recorded in tourist arrivals last year reaching 2,39 million from 2,7 million during the same period in 2010.

Last year’s rise was triggered by a 2,5% tourist increase from Britain- to   1,02 million, there was a 49.2% surge from Russia reaching 334,083 and visits from  Germany  rose 13,4% to 157,890.

Overall Cyprus benefited from turmoil in other regional destinations such as Egypt and Tunisia.

Arrivals recovered in 2010 to reach 2,17 million   , up from 2,14 million in 2009.

In 2009 , arrivals plunged 10,9% to 2,14 million, the lowest level since 1997.

Compared to 2009 levels , tourism arrivals have slightly fallen 0,6%.

The number of holidaymakers to Cyprus hit a high of 2,69 million in 2001, spending a record euro2,17b.

Income from tourism accounts for nearly 12% of Cyprus’s gross  domestic product.

Officials are hoping that tourism arrivals will at the least match last year’s level despite 2012 expected to be a ‘challenging time’ for the  industry.

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Buyukkonuk Eco Tourism Association  will  celebrate its seventh anniversary next Sunday, April 1, by combining its traditional activities twist.

The pioneering eco-village destination plans an Outdoor Fest 2012, sponsored by  Turkish  Bank,  which  offers hiking and photography, cycling, climbing  and camping activities using their network of nature trails.

This year will see  the first Buyuk konuk Community Biathlon race and outdoor associations have pledged their support.

Serdar Turganer, head of the North Cyprus Air Sport Federation, said:” We will have a stand there and weather permitting, will bring our hot  air balloon”.

Lois Cemal helped found the Eco-tourism Association with husband İsmail  and saw the area declared a pilot project by a North Cyprus Council of Ministers decision in 2005.

She said “The Festivals have enabled local women to earn a weekly wage in their home village. More and more people are stopping by and we now have  three bed and breakfast  hotels run by local women plus 13 chalets at the municipality Pine View picnic area.”

Donkey rides for youngsters will be on offer and a mid-morning village walk start at 11am. Traditional hands-on bread, cheese and mud brick building demonstrations begin after stalls open at 10am.

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Motorists are facing  a trible whammy at the pumps with price set to increase further.

The cost of a litre of fuel is already set to jump on Wednesday  as a barrel of oil  continues  to get more expensive and international developments make further hikes likely in future.

The North Cyprus , which is dependent  on Turkey for its oil  supplies , could also  pay the price  of Ankara’s defiance of-or  compliance with- US calls  for sanctions  against Iran.

The Us has said that Turkey is one of 12 countries  that could  face a dip in  financial  aid from  Washington “unless they  significantly  cut purchases”  of Iranian  oil . Turkish energy Minister Taner Yıldız  has said  Ankara is now  looking  to Libya and Saudi Arabia  as alternative suppliers, but any move from Iranian markets could push prices at the pump higher still.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Oguz Turkyılmaz , chairman  of the Turkish Chamber  of Mechanical Engineering (TMMOB) and a  member of the steering committee of the World Energy Council Turkish National Committee, said petrol  price hikes were inevitable.

“The US and EU-led sanctions against Iran are not for Turkey’s benefit. Turkey bought 43 per cent of  crude oil from Iran last year. It will continue to purchase crude oil from that country.

“If the pressure on Turkey  to impose sanctions against Iran increases, then this might accelerate a tension between their relations(Turkey-US and Turkey-EU) loading to a further instability on the oil market.

Levent Sentan, chairman of Cyprus Turkish petroleum  workers’ union Petrol-is  said:”We are highly  dependent on the Turkish  oil market s . any problem  in Turkey’s  purchase  of Iranian oil will inevitably affect us. This would lead to further rises in petrol prices due to the increasing crude oil prices and further instabilities in oil market.”

The price of a litre of 95-octane petrol is 3,16TL 97-octane is 3,21 TL , is a litre of Euro Diesel-the highest that prices have been  in North Cyprus.

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Paphos tourism board took part in the National Wedding Show in Birmingham from March 16-18 to promote the district as  a destination for nuptials to UK  couples.

Representatives from the tourism board and hoteliers association attended  the event, returning satisfied with the out come of their efforts.

A pavilion promoting the district as a wedding and honeymoon destination attracted dozen of visitors as part of  the implementation of an action plan for development of weddings tourism.

Local representatives also made contacts with wedding ceremonies organisers based in the United Kingdom and exchanged views on further promotion of Paphos through hosting journalist from specialist  magazines. More than 250 exhibitors participated in the show this year.

The four municipalities in Paphos District each make hundreds of thousands of euros from weddings each year largely through touting the area’s romantic connections to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.

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