Sharjah's stand makes an impact at this year's World Travel Market - WTM 2006

They witnessed a high volume of visitors from the tourism sector of participating countries, at this one of the kind international exhibition. Mr. Mohammed Al Noman, Director of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority has met various presidents from the travel and tourism companies in Britain and a number of well known delegates and ambassadors of participating countries, in addition to members of the press in both print and TV at the international exhibition.

The Sharjah representatives discussed how to further stimulate tourism activity between Sharjah and the British tourism market in particular and the world in general. The discussion comes at the time when the emirate has been growing in international popularity as a preferred destination for holiday makers as a result of its cultural heritage, social life and various other factors that has given it a prominent place on the world tourism map.

Commenting on this, Mohammed A. Al Noman, Director of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), said: "Our participation was successful in all aspects, thanks to Allah. The Emirate of Sharjah is known for its international tourism market as an excellent destination that distinguishes her from others in the region and around the world. No doubt this participation and meeting with the travel and tourism agencies will play a great role in strengthening the relationship between the two countries and attract more visitors to the Emirate."

He added: "Sharjah is considered one of the most popular places for tourists from different European countries and we in the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) are present at this year's exhibition to promote what the Emirate has to offer. We managed to be unique through our stand that illustrates both the heritage and modern aspects of our emirate while providing accurate news and information about the main attractions that can be found there.

"The SCTDA has showed through it is participation in this exhibition what it has achieved from being present at previous exhibitions. Prior to our involvement and after due diligence of the effectiveness of the various international tourism exhibitions that are being held yearly around the world, we have seen good returns from our various involvements in different exhibitions on Sharjah's tourism sector. As a result, today Sharjah's growing tourism market reflects positively on the other economic sectors of the emirate."

This year the SCTDA had a creative heritage design for its stand that was adapted from the heritage area in Sharjah. This highlighted the Qanat Al Qasbaa, one of the Gulf's most unique tourism places. Here the SCTDA provided accurate news and information featuring the main attractions of Sharjah in the English language.

The delegates from the Emirate of Sharjah included: SCTDA, Sharjah International Airport Authority, SATA, Qanat Al Qasbaa, Sharjah Museums Department, Sharjah National Hotels (Oceanic Hotel - Khor Fakkan, Hotel Holiday International, and Marbella Resort), Millennium Hotel, and Embassy Suites.

The International Travel Market is considered one the most important exhibitions in the world and specializes in the international tourism industry. The exhibition is also considered one of the five main specialized exhibitions in the tourism worldwide, where the most important people from the tourism sector meet. During the last exhibition more than 49 thousand visitors attended the exhibition from 202 different countries with an expectation to increase the number of visitors this year at a rate of 10%.