by Joachim Fischer, presently in Istanbul
The East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibtion (EMITT) salient to global tourism, opens its gate for the 14th time to host tourism professionals from all over the world. The EMITT 2010 Show has been officially opened by Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ertugrul Günay, and his colleague Zoheir Garranah, Minister of Tourism for the “Guest Country” Egypt. The Exhibition is to be held between 11th and 14th of February 2010 in Istanbul at the Convention and Congress Center TÜYAP. The Tourism–Insider has an information stand there, as well.
As the global tourism sector seeks to overcome the stagnancy caused by the international financial crisis, the sector’s representatives have once more come together at EMITT. This show has brought together 60 countries and over a hundred cities and districts from Turkey.
The Exhibition has been officially opened by Ertugrul Günay. “I am pleased that our country is hosting the EMITT Exhibition, one of the biggest exhibitions of the East Mediterranean. The tourism industry is one of the fastest developing, changing and growing sectors in the world today and it plays a very important role in strengthening a country’s position in the international arena, in terms of both labour and employment opportunities it provides and its contributions towards the economy and the image of a country.
Taking into account the global crisis that impacted the entire world in the year 2009, Turkey has succeeded in being one of those few countries which have turned the situation into an advantage through effective strategies and operations. According to the data gathered during the first ten months of 2009, that is from January to November, we hosted 25.9 million foreign visitors in that period, which means a 2.4 percent increase compered to the same period of the previous year. In other words, Turkey has achieved a growth that surpasses the world average,” Günay said.
Ertugrul Günay also stated that in addition to developing international trade relations, fairs and exhibitions contribute to global harmony as meeting platforms for individuals from different cultures.
In regard to EMITT, Eygypt’s Minister of Tourism, Zoheir Garranah said. ”Our presence at the EMITT 2010 with the honour of being the exhibition’s “Guest Country” compliments our long established tourism partnerships with Turkish tourism associations both in public and the private sectors. A glance at the deep-rooted relationships between Turkey and Egypt is very important in understanding the current situation. This historical bond is further expressed today through our cooperation in the tourism, industrial, investment commercial, technical and agricultural sectors as well as an exchange of expertise culminating in 285 companies and investments of over 1.5 million USD in the textile, chemical, leather and automotive industries”.
He also said that in the year 2009, Egypt attracted 12.5 million tourists, 50 000 of whom where from Turkey. The Ministry of Egypt has embarked on an intensive Human Resources Training Programme to upgrade and improve existing services and quality within the hospitality industry in Egypt in general in order to attract 25 million visitors by the year 2010.
EMITT Organiser Ekin Fair General Manager, Hacer Aydin said: ”Of all the tourism exhibitions across the world, EMITT is the only one with continued growth. When it first opened its gates 14 years ago, it had 120 participants in an area of 3,000 square meters. Today, it is a large exhibition spread over an area of 55,000 square meters. The greatest improvement both in terms of the area and the number of participants has been experienced in the last five years. It has also continued its growth between the years 2009 and 2010 when the global crisis impacted tourism and exhibitions as well as all other sectors. At a time when almost all fairs and exhibitions around the world are losing their strength, EMITT’s success is a notable one deserving all praise.”, said Hacer very proudly.
You can find pictures of the fair in our picture gallery.
