Syria to expand Arabian Travel Market participation

Syria is to have its biggest ever Arabian Travel Market presence this year and is planning to launch special destination and event packages at the show, the Middle East's premier travel and tourism exhibition.

The move comes as Syria plans to capitalise on inbound tourism traffic from the Gulf and Middle East.

“Inbound tourism from the Gulf countries has been on the rise for the past three years, many factors have played a role in the increase but the Arabian Travel Market has played a key role. We have been exhibiting at the show since its inception and we will continue to support it as it is the most important travel trade event in the Middle East, and has helped increase the tourism flow from the GCC,” said Dr. Saadallah Agha Al Kalaa, Syria’s Minister of Tourism.

At the Arabian Travel Market 2004, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 4-7, the Syrian pavilion will span 60 square metres - 10% bigger than last year’s participation.

“We are planning to launch a wide range of highly competitive tour packages in conjunction with the Damascus Chamber of Tourism and Syrian Air during the ATM. These will mainly target the Gulf countries. We will also launch new events and promote existing ones such as the Silk Road Festival held in October every year,” said Al Kalaa.

In 2004, Syria is expecting over 600,000 tourists from the GCC, 13% more than last year.

“The Middle East has great potential, we see it developing over the next 10 years and the tourism ministry is planning to open offices across the region to promote the country. The ministry has also been working on an action plan to co-ordinate efforts with other official regional authorities and has put together a strategy aimed at promoting tourism and encouraging investment in Syria’s tourism infrastructure,” said Al Kalaa.

Syria is one a number of regular ATM exhibitors which are significantly expanding their presence this year – fuelling floor space demand.

“Apart from Syria, there is considerable stand space growth from other destination pavilions. For example, Italy is more than quadrupling its stand and Qatar will have a 50% bigger presence. The Czech Republic, the Government of Dubai and Egypt have also increased their participation. We also have a number of newcomers to the show such as Greece, Korea and Libya,” said Matt Thompson, Group Exhibition Director, Overseas Events, Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), which organises Arabian Travel Market.

“Overall sales for the show are above expectations and we should achieve a 20% growth in floor space,” added Thompson.

To date, exhibitors from 43 countries have signed up for Arabian Travel Market 2004, which is the 11th in the annual series.