BERLIN (dpa) – Recovery, not recession, was the buzzword at the world’s largest travel show in Berlin, the ITB, where 187 countries were vying with one another to lure more European visitors to their part of the world.

In particular, Asian nations were powering their way back, with rising arrival figures and ambitious long term expansion plans.

Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Sri Lankan representatives in Berlin all insisted that last year’s tourism downturn was now over.

“The early indications for 2010 are very good,’’ said Malaysian tourism director Azizan Noordin. “We have increased our visitor target this year to 24 million from more than 23.5 million in 2009, and we do not think this will be very difficult to achieve.’’

Thailand has set itself an even more ambitious target to attract an additional 1 million visitors this year, bringing the total to 15 million with the slogan “Amazing Thailand, Amazing Value.’’ It’s quite an aggressive goal, but we are confident of hitting the target,’’ said Tanes Petsuwan of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. He predicted that the majority of this increase would come from Europe.

Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism, I Gde Pitana, believed his country’s efforts to fight terrorism would help improve the nation’s image and boost tourist arrivals this year.

The national airline, Garuda Indonesia, plans to reintroduce flights to Europe with a service to Amsterdam launching in June - a move which Pitana believes will help attract 1 million European tourists this year, up from the 690,000 in 2009.

Taleb Rifai, the Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), said recuperation and growth in international tourism was occurring earlier and at a stronger pace than initially expected for 2010. UNWTO forecasts an increase of 3-4 percent in international tourist arrivals, and 1-2 percent in tourism receipts, by the end of 2010. “As in the economic field, much of the recovery will come from the emerging Asian regions,’’ he predicted, adding that the world’s new generation of holidaymakers were “better educated and more discerning.’’

He said there were sound reasons why tourism was booming in countries like China and India, which were showing public sector commitment to the importance of tourism.

“Last year China introduced an important document, officially proclaiming travel and tourism as a pillar of the economy,’’ Rifai said. “We don’t see that in many other countries and certainly not in Europe,’’ he added. “Many of the developed economies take tourism for granted, considering it something which can take care of itself and requires no special attention,’’ the UNWTO chief said.

African countries also brought respite from Berlin’s lingering winter chill, with stands including Zanzibar, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. “The ITB is of key importance to us,’’ said Ali Khalil Mizar from the Zanzibar and Tanzania Commission for Tourism.

“With countries now emerging from the gobal economic crisis we hope more visitors will visit our region once more,’’ Mizar said. “Our region is very historical, cultured and cosmopolitan and the political situation is stable,’’ he added. “In Tanzania there are the game parks, in Zanzibar the wonderful beaches.’’

Mahmoud El-Rawy, of Cairo-based Wings Tours and Nile Cruise Travel Agency, said they were actively promoting new markets and destinations in the Middle East, where desert tours were gaining in popularity.