Minister of Trade, Industry & Tourism Nicos Rolandis is currently in Berlin, heading the Cyprus delegation which is participating in the Travel and Tourism World Trade Fair ITB 2002, together with another 181 countries.

Speaking during a press conference, Mr. Rolandis stated that Germany remains a very important tourist market for Cyprus as German visitors form the second largest group after visitors from the United Kingdom. Mr. Rolandis stated that overall, tourism figures for the current year appear to be lower and as far as Cyprus is concerned, a 15% reduction of visitors from Germany is expected. The main reasons are the events of the 11 September in the US, the economic depression which has resulted and prices of tourist packages for Cyprus which are higher than similar destinations.