Sharjah's participation at the World Travel Fair (WTF) in Shanghai branded as a success

Hailed as one of the largest international travel exhibitions staged this year, the fair was held in Shanghai from March 30 till April 02, 2006. The annual exhibition featured a wide array of countries all represented by individuals who specialized in the tourism industry. Attracting more than 331 exhibitors from 47 countries, on an area that covered 15 thousand square meters, organizers commended the Sharjah stand which attracted thousands of visitors and greatly contributed to the overall success of the exhibition this year.

The director of the SCTDA, Mr. Mohamed Al Noman, headed the Sharjah delegation to WTF in what was their 2nd participation at this important international tourism event. Akin to the emirate's involvement in the Beijing International Exhibition (Travel and Tourism / BITT 2005), their participation this year also had the end goal of improving the tourism industry of Sharjah.

This year Sharjah's participation included a number of senior representatives from the emirate, including the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), Sharjah Airport Travel Agency (SATA), Hotel Holiday International, Coral Beach Resort, Radisson SAS Resort, Millennium Hotel, and Embassy Suites Hotel.

With the aim of encouraging activity from the Chinese tourism market, senior representatives from the emirate met a number of renowned people who specialized in the tourism industry in an effort to garner support. In order to facilitate this, they met representatives from international governments, business men, and the media.

Speaking on their involvement in the exhibition, Mr. Mohamed Ali Noman, Director of the SCTDA, said: "Our participation in this international tourism exhibition was a success, thanks to the grace of God. Meeting with high ranking officials and introducing them to Sharjah will help to attract more tourists from different countries to our emirate. It will also introduce the Chinese tourism industry to our capabilities in attracting their tourists."

Refereeing to the potential that exists between China and Sharjah, Noman also said 'Statistics has shown that the Emirate of Sharjah has witnessed an increase in the number of Chinese tourists in recent years, thus our participation this year comes to further enhance this growth and to introduce to the Chinese tourist market our full capabilities in facilitating their needs."

SCTDA's participation this year was unique, with the Emirate showcasing an extraordinary and eye-catching design displaying graphics of the city on a large space of 77 sqmt. They had promotional materials featuring the main attractions of Sharjah, in addition to providing accurate news and information about the Emirate in both English and Chinese languages.

With the end goal of enhancing their position on the world tourism map, the SCTDA since the start of the year have been engaging in a variety of activities via their involvement with many international exhibitions that specialize in the tourism and travel sector, featuring promotional campaigns that intend to promote the Emirate of Sharjah as the best destination for tourism in the region.

Sharjah's Q1participations in International exhibitions includes: the Mediterranean International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (EMITT 2006), held in Istanbul from the 23-26 February, the International Tourism Exchange ITB, held in Berlin from the 8th-12th of March 2006, the Moscow International Exhibition (Travel and Tourism / MITT 2006), which took place in Russia from the 22nd to the 25th of March, and their latest involvement in the World Travel Fair Travel & Tourism Exhibition (WTF 2006). To date all of Sharjah's appearances have been recognized as being highly successful, which support their long term ambition to make a solid impact onto the world tourism map.