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D-8 Countries participate at the The East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair (EMITT) in Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey | February 15, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

The East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair (EMITT) commenced yesterday with a large audience, including ministers, government officials and tourism entrepreneurs from over 50 countries, reported by media source of Turkey.

Domestic interest in the occasion was also high as participants from more than 130 cities, provinces and tourism sites flocked to see the latest changes and challenges of the tourism business. This year’s fair, which marks the 12th installment since it was first initiated in 1999, is considered a significant opportunity for Turkey to improve its vision and perceptions about the tourism industry.

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Turkey’s minister of tourism and culture, Ertugrul Günay, delivered a brief address just before the opening ceremony’s ribbon cutting. He said there were 1 billion people traveling around the world for leisure and tourism and that Turkey wants to increase its share in the travel sector and receive more visitors. Günay emphasized that although the tourism sector in Turkey has been growing faster than the world average, it has still the potential to grow even further.Günay said to use this potential at full capacity they wanted to spread tourism activities across the whole year rather than just focusing on the summer season. He added that they were aiming to diversify tourism destinations in Turkey, expanding the zone of tourism from its current locus on the Aegean and Mediterranean coast to all parts of Turkey.

Günay pointed out that EMITT has already found a place among the top 10 tourism fairs in the world. He added that its goal is to be one of the five largest tourism fairs by participation and visitor numbers. He also stressed that another important goal for them was to increase the number of domestic travelers in Turkey, in addition to is foreign visitors.

Istanbul Mayor Muammer Güler said the number of foreign visitors to Istanbul exceeded 6 million in 2007, a dramatic increase from the 2 million visitors it saw in 2002. He emphasized that their aim was to receive 10 million visitors when the city is featured as the European Culture Capital in 2010.

EGHalim Bulutoglu, chairman of the Ekin Group, which organizes EMITT, indicated that the fair is the largest tourist sector event in the Eurasian region this year. He stressed that the fair has grown by 50 percent successively for two years and emphasized that it was a great success that 95 percent of the previous year’s participants were attending the fair again this year. He also added that the number of domestic participants had significantly increased.

Tourism Investors Association (TYD) President Murat Dedeman said the fair would add much to Turkey’s tourism sector. He said they were aiming to increase Turkey’s share in the world tourism industry to 4 percent from its current 2.5 percent. He added that as tourism investors their goal was to increase Turkey’s income from tourism to $40 billion and make $15 billion worth investments inside and outside of Turkey. He added that EMITT would be guiding these investments.

Turkish Hoteliers’ Federation (TÜROFED) President Ahmet Barut said fairs always contribute to the cities where they are held in addition to making specific contributions to their sector. He added that EMITT had also increased business at Istanbul hotels. He said despite the fair being held in the winter, the number of hotel reservations was very close to the level reached during the Formula 1 events that are held in August in Turkey.

Open until Feb.17, EMITT has welcomed more than 2,500 participant guests from over 50 countries, including Germany, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Algeria, the Czech Republic, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Morocco, Palestine, South Africa, India, Croatia, Netherlands, Iran, Ukraine, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, South Korea, Cuba, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Egypt, Moldova, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Pakistan, Yemen and Greece, a record level of participation. The fair, in which all participants will have the opportunity to express themselves and promote their products, has become the scene for plenty of colorful events, enjoyable promotions and interesting contests.

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With the beautiful natures and landscapes of its 8 memberstates, D-8 endowed with a great deal of potency in tourism sector. Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, and Iran are the member countries that record high percentage of tourist arrival growth each year. In the framework of cooperation, D-8 also underlines the importance of boosting a more intense work on D-8 tourism sector. In fact, D-8 organization has already prepared Roadmap for 2008-2018 where the cooperation in aviation, tourism, trade and industries are among sectors significantly highlighted. Later this year of 2008, D-8 Organization is scheduled to organise a ministerial meeting of D-8 on Tourism in Tehran, Iran.

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