direct flight to Bermuda, Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. Jim Woolridge said this week.

Mr. Woolridge, who has been promoting the Island and the new non-stop Condor flight from Frankfurt this week, has met German journalists in three German cities anticipating the service.

From his Munich hotel room on Thursday night Mr. Woolridge told The Royal Gazette that his meetings have so far gone "very, very well''.

He added: "I have already hosted luncheons in Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Munich, all of which are in connection with the Condor flight which will start its inaugural flight out of Frankfurt on May 2. That will start a once a week service to the Island.

"At the moment, the tremendous enthusiasm shown by the various members of the trade and media is overwhelming.'' Mr. Woolridge also said he has met the chairman of the board of Condor who "is quite anxious to have all the advance publicity possible leading up to the inauguration of this flight''.

"And he has indicated that he is not just interested in having this flight on a seasonal bases but rather all year around.'' Mr. Woolridge said only time would tell whether demand would justify a year-round service, noting Condor might choose to add a second destination to the flight.

"They don't want to lose the momentum and we are also emphasising golf facilities in Bermuda since Germans are very interested in the sport. It is a very important selling point,'' he said said.

He added that on Thursday he hosted editors from Focus, Forbes, Ambiance, Vogue and Cosmopolitan who "were all very enthusiastic about promoting the flight''.

"We are hopefully going to bring most of these writers to Bermuda so they can see what the Island has to offer,'' he said.

The meetings he has had have also been attended by officials from British Airways because of their part in bringing European visitors to Bermuda, he said.

"There is sufficient room for expansion and if British Airways and Condor decide to work in partnership together we can achieve our objectives.'' He added there has been a steady increase in German visitors over the last five years, including a 12 percent rise last year.

"With this direct flight we hope to double that number,'' Mr. Woolridge said, adding that European visitors tend to spend 12 to 14 nights in Bermuda unlike US visitors who only stay 5.6 nights.