Hotel & Tours Group

The national tourist office of Germany has announced the new events and attractions that will be drawing visitors to its theme parks this year, many of which will open soon for the 2009 season.

Europapark, due to open on April 4th, is located in south-west Germany near Stuttgart and will boast a new 'catapult-coaster' this season, which will have the highest loop of any launch-based rollercoaster in Europe.

Hansa Park near Luebeck will launch Curse of the Novgorod when it opens on April 9th, a ride taking visitors through an accurate replica of the Kremlin of Novgorod.

A themed area entitled Valley of the Maya has been added to Heide-Park Soltau near Hamburg this year, while Legoland Gunzburg is working on a new attraction based around the legendary island of Atlantis.

People who enjoy getting wet on their theme park visits can head to Phantasialand near Cologne from April 4th to ride Wakobato, which is described as a "splash-battle style water attraction".