German Tourism on Road to Recovery

After a weak year in 2003, Germany's tourism industry is showing signs of recovery. The German Center for Tourism (DZT) said it expects a 1.5 percent increase in the number of overnight stays this year. Demand from foreign visitors to Germany could see as much as a 2.5 percent increase. Last year, Germany's tourism industry stagnated. Even though the number of overnight stays by non-Germans grew 2.7 percent to 41.8 million, the number of Germans staying in hotels shrank 0.4 percent to 296.8 million. Overall, industry gains from the number of foreign visitors were cancelled out by the decrease in the number of German guests. Worldwide, the tourism industry in 2003 shrank by 1.2 percent due to the effects of the lung disease SARS and the war in Iraq.