Germans staying away from bird flu-hit destinations

THE ITB Berlin travel fair opened yesterday with the Balearics still Germany's top Spanish destination and the island poised to be the main attraction today with tennis star Anna Kournikova helping to promote the Balearics. Yesterday, members of the Balearic tourism delegation led by Tourism Minister Joan Flaquer, held talks with the country's main tour operators. Today, the Balearic stand will be celebrating Balearic day with President Jaume Matas flying in from Colombia to preside over the celebrations. However, Kournikova may be the star of the show today, promoting the Mallorca Classic PGA golf tournament, but much of the talk in Germany is about bird flu and the anti-west protests over the prophet Muhammad cartoons. Germany's travel industry chiefs said that many Germans are concerned about both issues and, as a result, are tending to stay away from destinations hit by either of the problems, Turkey and Egypt for example. This, for the moment, is good news for Spain and the Balearics with bookings up. TUI reported yesterday that bookings are up to Spain by five percent for this summer and Majorca is performing very well in particular.