The board of directors of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) took a decision to boycott the only international Opera festival of Cyprus.
The CTO has agreed to be the main sponsor for the Opera in Pafos for the last 11 years. The last Opera Festival that took place last September 2010 it was probably the most successful cultural event ever for the town of Paphos but also for Cyprus as country. Now the CTO board of directors denies to pay the 138,000 euros sponsorship for this last festival.
The Cyprus Tourism Organisation is governed by 9 members assigned by the political parties to run the policies of tourism in Cyprus. The last board of directors has been placed in June 2009 and thank god their term ends in June 2011.
The decision of the board not to pay the 138,000 euros as main sponsorship to the Pafos Aphrodite Festival raised anger and disappointment among the Town Halls and the citizens that form the Pafos Aphrodite Festival initiative. Once again the CTO board acted as if they were the “maharajas” of Cyprus Tourism and Culture. Their excuse was that on the accounts presented to them by the Organising Committee it was included the expenses for the seats. The Opera takes place in front of the Pafos Castle and in order to perform it is necessary to transform the square into an amphitheatre of approximately 2500 seats. For this reason the Pafos Aphrodite Festival needs to rent the seats.
The CTO board of directors using their brain came to the conclusion that the expenses for renting the seats should not be included in the expenses for organising the festival. 8 out of 9 members (Excluding the Pafian, Cleopatra Mylona ) voted no to the payment of the sponsorship. The board before coming to this wise decision has consulted the Office of the Commissioner for State Aid Control (www.publicaid.gov.cy) who clearly stated that there is no problem to include the expense for the seats in the aid. This means that the 138,000 promised should be paid to Pafos Aphrodite Festival.
The CTO board of Directors has basically omitted the advice given by the commissioner and in “democratic” and “fair” manner they left Pafos basically without the Opera Festival. The sponsorship of the CTO was the most important income for the festival.
It is not as simple as it is said .... I am a true fan of the Pafos opera and I appreciate all the work done. The problem for the sponsorship is related within the framework of the sponsorship scheme "deminimis" that is currently operated in Cyprus Tourism Organisation. A company is allowed to receive a certain amount of money within a period of 3 years. So a company cannot be granted any sponsorship if surpassed this amount.... its complicated due to problems of past years...
ReplyDeleteAlways at your disposal... Maria Skapoulli
Dear Maria, The people of Paphos, the down to earth citizens, do not understand of "Deminimis" and bureaucracy, the result is that the CTO Board made a decision before the Opera and they have not been able to fulfill the agreement. If there is a will there is always a way. The problem here is there was no will shown. The Opera Festival is the first step towards the European Cultural Capital 2017 and the CTO should be supporting initiatives of this kind with all its means. The budgets are man made and are not imposed by "Deminimis". Tourism is a matter that affects every household in Pafos, and the Opera is the only international projection Pafos has, the CTO board decision has many, too many collateral effects. They should consider "deminimis" before they agreed to sponsor the event as main sponsors. Maria, actions of political boards have DIRECT consequences on peoples lives and are those the politicians do not consider at all.
ReplyDeleteI presume that sponsoring football matches across Europe did not suppose so much problems for funding and legal impediments.
ReplyDeleteThe constant need for the CTO board to hijack Cyprus Tourism for personal vendettas is quite intolerable and inexcusable, especially for established Cultural Events. Maria - nobody cares about the technicalities, this scandal could have been spared.