* Germany's sixth-biggest tour group not seeking suitor
* Summer season holiday bookings down 9 percent
* Sees pickup in 2010
By Eva Kuehnen
BERLIN, March 12 (Reuters) - German travel group Oeger Tours plans to ride out the global downturn on its own and is not looking for an investor after talks with Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev broke down earlier this year.
"I am not looking for a buyer," Oeger Tours owner Vural Oeger told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the world's largest travel fair, ITB.
Oeger said his company, Germany's sixth-largest tour operator, is well positioned to get through the crisis, adding: "I know that things will get better in 2010."
Oeger said there was no need to sell parts of the company, pointing out that it was debt free.
Lebedev initially wanted to buy a 76 percent stake in Oeger, which specialises in trips to Turkey and posted sales of 773 million euros ($987.7 million) in 2007/08.
At the time, the plan had been for Oeger Tours to enter the Russian market with Lebedev's help, but Oeger put the deal on hold in January after Lebedev postponed closure several times.
"For me, that topic is over," Oeger said. "I don't want to invest in such uncertain times. I don't want any experiments and I don't want to enter new markets."
Right now, it was about preserving the status quo, he added.
Bookings for the summer holiday season are down 9 percent, Oeger said, less than at Europe's largest tour operators TUI Travel and Thomas Cook, which have recorded a double-digit drop in bookings.
But Oeger said he was confident bookings would recover closer to the summer. "The Germans won't forego travel," he said.
Oeger managed to bring down prices by 5 to 10 percent after renegotiating terms with its partner airlines, hotels and other suppliers. "Our profit margin has not changed," he said.
(Editing by Erica Billingham)