Following seven years of α consecutive downward trend in the German tourist arrivals, messages from Berlin are positive at last. Tour operators estimate that German tourist arrivals for 2004 will increase by 15% compared to 2003, which was one of the worst years ever for the German market.

Speaking to StockWatch, CTO Chairman, Fotis Fotiou confirmed the positive climate from the German market, after visiting Berlin within the framework of an international tourist exhibition. Mr. Fotiou stressed that the organization has made an enormous effort to reverse the negative climate in the German tourist arrivals, while this year Germans have expressed their interest on the next day of solution.

CTO Chairman said that during the traditional press conference, the Cyprus representatives were ‘bombarded’ by questions made by the Media representatives on the course of the negotiations for the solution of the Cyprus issue, the post-solution tourist conditions and the duration of the reconstruction of the occupied territories. Mr. Fotiou expressed his confidence that German tourist arrivals will increase for 2004.

Similarly, PASYXE General Manager, Zacharias Ioannides said that messages from the German market are positive and clarified that 2003 was the worst year for the tourist arrivals in Cyprus. “According to CYSTAT data, German tourist arrivals in 1997 reach 250,000. Since then, arrivals followed a downward trend. In 1999, German tourist arrivals amounted to 239,000, in 2000 234,000, in 2001 214,000, in 2002 174,000 and in 2003 129,000”, Mr. Ioannides concluded.