The number of tourists from the Gulf states making overnight stays in Germany rose 15.1 per cent to 512,287 in 2004 from 445,080 the year before, a German tourism board official said in remarks reported Saturday. "Though the number of outbound tourists from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to Germany is still very low, we consider this as a growth region," Heike Murad, German National Tourism Office regional manager for the Gulf, told the Gulf News newspaper. The GNTO recently opened its regional office for the Gulf in Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
