European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Russia he said. They eel it s hard Lor terrorists to ,. Get in  ,4 the soviet Union is picking up quite a bit of tourist Trade with travel agents reporting bookings up sharply. "3 Sun Tours said it had one school group change their if booking from Israel to Greece when they decided Jwj Athens was too dangerous they booked a trip to the reports about tourism to Israel vary but by Noy i director of the israeli tourist office for Germany said not j Only Are people not cancelling but activity is at an All time High for the beginning of  he estimates that a 10,000 americans living in Germany travelled to Israel last j year and said he is looking Forward with Confidence to the i same or higher figures this year. People feel that Israel is careful they feel v reassured said tour Leader judge Mossinger who specializes in trips to the holy land. My easter trips Lare still going. The people do ask what airline we Are flying before they Book. We use Al Al and Lufthansa and that reassures them.". However res euro Schenk which entered the y american military Market last year said that trips to i the entire Mediterranean Are Down by As much As 70 i. Percent. 1 London and Paris Are Normal said Joe Schnuerer 4i5 of the Frankfurt office and there Are lots of bookings w5 for Russia. The Art history tour to Italy is fully booked but other Italy trips Are Down even though we kept last year s  Mohamed Ismail Mohamed of Egypt else service in i Frankfurt noted that nine americans have booked the f easter Egypt Nile cruise trip which needs 15 people to in go. Americans have also booked Egypt Kenya Tours but he sees a 25 percent drop from last year. It in t just terrorism he said. The Dollar has dropped. Also tourism goes in cycles and this season i the far East is what s in " people Are still travelling said Richard Ollga of i r Tours based in Kaiserslautern Germany. As far As bus programs go i Don t see an effect. Americans1 tuft Feal secure because everyone on the bus is american and there Are no hijackers on Board. To but people just Don t want to get on a plane he added. It in t just the terrorism it s also the airline  Accident  Ohga Alm noted difference in the attitude of " americans living in the United states and in Europe. Certainly the people Here Are not As enclosed they have a different perspective. The people Here Nave the feeling it. That terrorism attacks can happen anywhere. They Are More objective than those living in the  t the loss of american tourism in Egypt could become major problem he noted because the egyptians sanded dollars to survive. They must have dollars for stood Staples he said. But he said he has seen no a reductions yet in an attempt to win Back i visitors. Med cruises still on a americans take up 90 percent of the berths on All cruises according to a unite press International report. But Tor the american military Community in Europe cruises Are not a big draw. They Are expensive they require booking far in Advance and they require Large blocks of free time. Therefore much of the terrorism hysteria in the United states is not affecting the american traveler who lives in Europe. Royal Viking lines has dropped its three holy land cruises for this summer and instead is sending one cruise through the greek islands and to Istanbul sailing from Venice and ending in Preaus Greece. A second cruise to fill the Gap is Venice to Barcelona in october. A spokesman in London said that Royal Viking will return to the Eastern Mediterranean in 1987. The cruise line Tilro Tekl based in Preaus has not cancelled any cruises according to Georges potamianos the managing director. We have five ships and we have five sailings from Piraeus each week he said. We sail through the islands and to Egypt Israel and  cruises can be booked for one three four seven or 14 Days. We have seen a drop in american bookings potamianos said but we Don t have hard figures yet. It s too Early in the season. We do have increases in bookings from Europe Japan South America and  a Survey revealed that other nationalities Are not being affected As americans Are in making their travel plans. A spokesman for Peter Dellmann shipping company in Germany said his firm is going ahead with its full cruise program we sail under the German Flag with a German Crew and More than 90 percent of our passengers Are from German speaking countries he said. There is no reason for us to change our  he noted that the Mediterranean bookings Are going Well and said he feels the Impact of terrorism and american cancellations on the total Market is being  we have Only three or four percent americans he said. If we lose them Well just Book a few More  however the firm publishes its tour program in English and the spokesman said that his company believes americans May feet More comfortable at present travelling on a German ship. The Berlin Dellmann s Mediterranean love boat is being used to shoot a Colombo television series As it sails from Ball to Mauritius.  events t he wave of terrorist attacks that has frightened american travellers began Las june with the hijacking of a Twa Jet to Beirut. Terrorists beat and shot to death  diver Robert Stethem during the hijacking. The Security system of the Athens Airport where the terrorists Are thought to have boarded was heavily criticized after the hijacking. Then in october the italian cruise ship Achilla Lauro was hijacked. Wheelchair bound Leon Klinghoffer of new York was shot in the head and dumped overboard. A month later terrorists commandeered an Egypt air plane and forced it to land on Malta a Small Island in the Mediterranean. In a bloody Rescue attempt 60 people were killed including Call Tomlan Scarlett Rogenkamp. Finally terrorist staged simultaneous dec. 27 machine gun and grenade attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports. At Rome 16 people died and 72 were injured five of the victims were american. Those Are the incidents that make scare headlines but other terrorist attacks have occurred in the interim most notably a series of bombings in Paris. As one travel agent noted it can happen  not Only is terrorism frightening americans the High airline Accident rate is influencing some travel decisions. More people died in air plane crashes in 1989 than in any other year in a Latton history. The dec. 12 crash of a charter plane carrying . Members of the Middle East peacekeeping Force brought the total fatalities in major accidents for the year to 1,946. Other tragedies included the Japan air lines crash that killed 520, the Delta air lines Accident in Dallas with 137 fatalities and the air India disaster that killed 329 people. Factors in the crashes being sited by various critics Are lax plane inspection standards brought about by the fierce Competition under deregulation of the airline Industry in the United states the overtaxed air controllers and cuts in funds for the Federal aviation administration which supervises the airline Industry. The stars and stripes Page 15