SPAIN: EUROPE'S NUMBER ONE DESTINATION
Madrid - Islamic Tourism
Great tourism diversity is offered by the nineteen regions of Spain. Andalusia is perhaps the most significant of these areas. It includes great tourist zones, such as Grenade, Cordoba, Malaga, and Seville. Spain receives more than 50 million tourists annually and the industry is well supported by the government. This support was crowned this year by the visit of the king and the queen of Spain to FITUR exhibition, exploring the various stands of the participating countries, in addition to those of the Spanish regions.
The participation of Islamic Tourism magazine in this exhibition, which was held during the last week of January, was particularly significant this year. Its stand had posters of the magazine’s issues and its electronic website. The magazine was also featured in the exhibition’s catalogue. More than 3,000 copies of the Arabic/Spanish edition were distributed to participants and visitors.
Mr. Moataz Othman and Dr. Kadhim Shamhoud Taher, who resides in Madrid, represented Islamic Tourism. They visited all the standings starting with the hall reserved for African countries which are particularly interested in Spanish tourists. In this hall, where some Asian countries also had their stands, they met Mr. Sandip Jacques, president of the organization of tourism of the Indian region of Goa, who stressed this area is distinguished by its proximity to the Arab world and its multiculturalism, influenced by the contribution of the various countries which controlled it in the past. He invited Arab and Muslim tourists to visit Goa throughout the year. The director of tourism in Kerala, Mr. Suman, whose region is a universally known tourist center, because of the beautiful natural landscapes in its backwaters, stressed that the government has decided to consolidate its relations with Arab-Islamic countries, since Kerala has a relaxing environment particularly adapted for Arab and Muslim tourists.
In the hall reserved for Arab countries, the representatives of the magazine met Mr. Mazen Hamood, general manager of the organization of Jordanian tourism who praised the quality of Islamic Tourism.
They also visited the European stands, where they met Mrs. Erika Nowak, director of the Mediterranean zone on the Austrian stand, as well as other persons in charge of the stands of Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia etc.
The hall reserved for Latin-American countries was crammed with visitors. These countries were competing in attracting visitors through their traditional dances, clothes and popular music. The hall was a multitude of festivals. On the Chilean stand, the representatives of Islamic Tourism met Miss Karen, who is of Lebanese origin, and who indicated that Chile will take part in the tourism exhibitions of Arab countries. She expressed her pleasure to develop co-operation with Islamic Tourism and welcomed Arab tourists to Chile.
The twenty-sixth edition of exposure FITUR was a significant meeting reflecting the growing importance of Spain on the map of international tourism. |