Good practice:

Business model of the Nicosia Tourism Board for CCT development based on CCIs and SME competitivenes

NTB established in 2007 by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a private entity non-for-profit. Its mission is the tourism development of the Nicosia district and the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs CCIs through CCT development. The collaboration is being secured by the company’s statute where members of the Board of Directors are, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, all the Nicosia district municipalities and key stakeholders such as Nicosia Hotels Association, Travel Agents, Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises, museums etc. The annual proposed action plan is divided into key action categories such as Digital Marketing, Product development, Digitalization, and participation in world tourism exhibitions. The plan should incorporate and adopt the national tourism strategy objectives as well as the priorities of all the members. CCT development is at the core of every initiative taken by NTB. The Board composition secures the interest of NTB into kye aspects for the development of CCT such as the entrepreneurship, the cultural and creative elements. The local Chamber, as a board member provide suggestions for the enhancement of the local creative entrepreneurship and economy while museums strengthen the cultural aspect of a particular action. The participation of the local municipalities is fundamental for incorporating the CCIs development in the regional master plan and on related incentives plans.

Deputy Ministry of Tourism funds the annual action plan which average is up to 150k. The support of the Chamber is fundamental. A key success factor is the involvement of cultural and creative associations.

NTB brand particularly the CCIs of Nicosia and promote the city as a cultural creative destination. Furthermore, NTB installed info points across the city to mark CCIs and create the city's Cultural Creative route. Additionally, NTB in collaboration with the Chamber and research centre organise workshops to CCIs relevant to CCT and branding actions and provide support to SMEs CCIs for CCT development.

Funding initiatives to enhance CCIs for the development of CCT is a major challenge to overcome. Furthermore, not all CCIs have the tourist aspect at the core of their business plan, therefore NTB has to provide workshops demonstrating the CCT benefits for both CCIs and the local community.

Tourism Boards established as private entities involving both public and private partners such as Chambers and municipalities, is an efficient way to establish long-term partnerships for CCT development. Engaging a diverse group of partners secures that the benefits from tourism are spill over the city's key sectors such as the local SMEs. Concurrently, the policy-making procedures and alternatives are enriched by the diverse perspectives of the stakeholders achieving synergies and multi-level partnerships for the greater good of the CCIs. The tourism board as a business model improves governance for tourism development and is suitable for transfer to other tourist destinations towards SME competitiveness of CCIs to develop CCT. That kind of business model achieves two-way management routes; a top-down and bottom-up approach.