The German airline, Condor, is set to return to Grenada later this year, tourism officials announced late on Friday (March 7). The announcement became the major buzz in the Caribbean hall at the world’s largest travel show, ITB, in Germany. Tourism Minister Alexandra Otway-Noel, who is leading a Grenada delegation at the travel show, has closed the deal with Condor after months of negotiations. Condor was first engaged by Otway-Noel at the Routes Conference in Las Vegas last year. The minister has been continuously holding negotiations with the carrier since and her efforts have paid off. Grenada will have a direct weekly service from Frankfurt for the upcoming winter season, in November of this year. “We are so excited to have Condor back in our market and we have to do everything possible to ensure the flight is a success. Grenada has been out of the German market for too long and it is a very important one for us,” said Otway-Noel after signing the agreement with Condor at the Grenada booth on Friday; witnessed by GTA CEO, Rudy Grant. “Things are moving along smoothly; we have implemented the new GTA as promised, we have launched our new brand for destination Grenada as promised – Pure Grenada, which has received glowing reports here at ITB, and now we are moving quickly to get our hotels full and secure new business.” The persistence by the tourism minister in landing a new deal for Grenada with Condor Airlines is expected to be a major boost for the country’s tourism industry. It will once again re-open access to the German market and also provide a gateway to the rest of Europe. Tour operators attending ITB expressed excitement at the news of the return of Condor to Grenada; a trending topic at the travel show. Meanwhile, on Day 1, the Grenada team saw over 12 major tour operators including mega-operators Thomas Cook Touristik GmbH and Meier’s Weitreisen. It was also a busy day for the minister, giving media interviews to Lonely Planet Traveller, Food & Travel, Yachting Swissboat and Blogger and Anja Beckmann from Food on Toast. Otway also spoke with Daniela Kebel, free-lance journalist for world renowned magazines Elle and Cosmopolitan. Day 2 at ITB was no slower. The Grenada delegation met with a host of major tour operators including FTI Touristic and The Moorings. Grenada was represented at the CTO (Caribbean Tourism Organization’s) Caribbean Roundtable meeting by GTA Director of Marketing, Sheldon Keens-Douglas and also attended the CTO media awards hosted by the British Virgin Islands. The minister was interviewed by CTO corporate communications manager, Johnson Johnrose. The number of German visitors to the Caribbean is up 7% this year, at 717,000 visitors, and has increased every year for the last four years to the region. The ITB Berlin sees nearly every country, hotel group, and tourism-based company in the world setting up display booths and promoting their products and services. There are over 30 exhibition halls in a sprawling 30 acres of buildings and convention space. Millions of persons display at and visit ITB each year. Source: Carib news