Berlin - Mounir El-Fishawy
The German capital, Berlin, hosted the 39th Berlin International Tourism Exhibition, (ITB) between 11 - 15 March. The number of participating countries, in the most famous travel market in the world, reached 181, with more than 10,400 exhibitors.
The five days of the exhibition saw 142,351 visitors, of which 83,000 were professionals and 98 ministers or persons responsible for tourist organisations.
The countries of the six continents tried to have the biggest share of the 150,000m² of the exhibition, subdivided into 26 main rooms and about ten supplementary rooms.
In the Arab world, the UAE and Egypt had the biggest stands, followed by those of Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Morocco and Tunisia.
Africa had a distinguished representation this year, notably from South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya - all with large stands.
In the Latin American section, the biggest stands were those of Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina. The exhibition was also important for Asian and South Pacific countries.
But the largest stands were those of European and North America countries, headed by Germany (the host country), Spain, the United States, Italy and France.
Some of the Arab countries organized press conferences, of which the most important were those held by the Egyptian Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al Maghribi, and of Morocco, Adil Douiri, who described the evolution and the bases of tourism in their countries. Mr M. Akbar Al Baker, Director General of the General Organisation of Tourism and the President of Qatari Airways, outlined the perspectives of tourism in their countries.
The magazine "Islamic Tourism" was very active during the exhibition. Its representative met the Yemeni and Guatemalan Ministers of Tourism, as well as about 80 persons responsible for tourist organisations. The Spanish edition of "Islamic Tourism" was welcomed with admiration by Latin American countries who promised to establish ties of cooperation with our magazine. |