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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Interview Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Egypt's new millennium travel fair
By Rehab SaadOn 1 March, 2000, Egypt will stage the first round of the Mediterranean Travel Fair (MTF). It will run for three days at the Cairo International Conference Centre (CICC) and is expected to attract countries from the Mediterranean, Europe and further afield. It will be the largest travel fair ever organised by Egypt.
This is not Egypt's first experience in organising such a fair, but it is being planned on a bigger scale than ever before. At a press conference, Mamdouh El-Beltagui, the minister of tourism, said, "Every effort will be made to promote this event and turn it into a great success."
In the early 1990's, Ahmed Hafez, an Egyptian organiser, arranged the International Arab Travel Market (IATM) under the umbrella of the Ministry of Tourism and the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA). It was aimed at the Arab countries of the region. It was successful in the first year. Most of the allocated areas in the conference centre were booked and the event was attended by Egyptian and Arab senior officials, experts in the field and the international media.
In subsequent years, however, the standard deteriorated, the number of exhibitors fell and visitors decreased. With Hafez's death, the event fizzled out.
This time it will be launched on a massive scale. When tourist officials thought of resuscitating the event they chose Reed Travel Exhibitions, an international company that specialises in organising travel fairs, to arrange it. The company has organised about 300 events worldwide including the well-known World Travel Market in the United Kingdom, PATA Travel Mart in Singapore, the Russian-held CIS Travel Market and Dubai's Arabian Travel Market.
El-Beltagui declared, "Today we will start a new formula with Reed, and all tourist bodies in Egypt will cooperate to meet the target. It will be a big event that will include all the Egyptian tourist attractions. There will be many sellers and buyers." He said that the fair this time would not be restricted to Arab nations but will target all nations of the Mediterranean including Cyprus, Israel, Turkey, Italy and France.
The CICC will offer a 75 per cent discount on the rental of the halls, while the ETA will promote the event. EgyptAir is offering special rates to all exhibition participants and free tickets to the tour operators. The Egyptian Hotel Association will provide hotel rooms for some attendees and for selected international media representatives covering the event, and the Egyptian Travel Agents Association will offer pre- and post-event tours, plus airport and hotel transfers, to select delegates.
"This region presents tremendous opportunities for the international travel industry. The importance of a major business forum to serve the market cannot be understated," said Reed's managing director, Tom Nutley. "Egypt is recognised as the natural choice to stage this event. Its capital, Cairo, is a thriving metropolis providing excellent international connections and a sophisticated blend of modern Western culture and traditional Eastern charm."
Nutley added that with the full support of the Egyptian government and tourism authorities, combined with Reed's expertise in organising major international exhibitions, he was "confident that the MTF would become a key annual event on the tourism calendar."
Matt Thompson, an exhibition director based in Cairo for overseas events, explained that there are many reasons that make Egypt the most suitable place for such an event. "The strength of the Egyptian market is one of these reasons. Egypt counted 3.5 million tourists last year and studies indicate a substantial growth in the coming years. Egypt also represented one quarter of total arrivals in the Middle East in 1997 and 45 per cent of receipts," he said.
Thompson stressed that the sound infrastructure of Cairo was an asset. "Cairo already leads in the number of hotels with more than 10,000 rooms and it can provide excellent facilities to delegates," he said.
Reed officials see the marketing of the event as of paramount importance. "It is not merely a matter of filling the exhibition area with booths, but the numbers of visitors that will be attracted," Nutley said.
For that reason, Reed has prepared a very ambitious marketing plan. It includes direct mail to attract senior visitors and acquaint them with the event, as well as advertising and public relations campaigns.
"So far, 30 exhibitors have confirmed their bookings and there are over 300 serious inquiries from companies representing 60 countries," said Kay Adye, marketing manager of overseas events.
Even at this early stage it is possible to anticipate great success.
