London, Ahmed bin Nasser al-Mehrazi, Minister of
Tourism signed an agreement making the Sultanate an official partner
of the world travel exchange ITB Berlin 2020.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the World Travel
Market in London, in which the ministry is representing the Sultanate
along with a number of Omani tourism companies.
The ITB Berlin has chosen the Sultanate to be its partner in
recognition of the efforts being made by the Ministry of Tourism to
strengthen Oman’s tourism sector and its growth seen in the European
market. It is also a kind of appreciation of its continuous participation in
this annual fair.
The invitation to the Sultanate to become the official partner of the
World Travel Exchange in the year 2029 was extended by its
organisers.
Ahmed bin Nasser al-Mehrazi, Minister of Tourism, thanked the
gesture of the ITB Berlin to make the Sultanate its official partner in the
world travel market in Berlin in 2020.
In an expression of his gratitude, Ahmad al-Mehrazi said: “The
organisers of the world travel market ITB Berlin have decided to make
the Sultanate its official partner due to the appreciation of the huge
efforts made for promotion of the tourism sector and the growth which
is seen recently. This is part of the government’s aspirations to
strengthen development and growth and diversification of economic
sources.
He said that the opportunity, which it has got as an official
partner of the world travel exchange ITB Berlin aims to highlight the
Sultanate’s tourism sector and further promote its vast tourism
elements, which attract tourists from around the world.
Al-Mehrazi said that participation of the Sultanate as a partner of
the world travel exchange ITB Berlin 2020 would open doors for the
Ministry of Tourism to increase tourism promotion using this platform. It
would use the platforms of the exchange which it provides throughout
the year for promotion of tourism to reach out 570 million people in the
European market, which is also being targeted by the Sultanate, as
one of the major tourist markets through media coverage of the
exhibition, particularly in print, radio channels and internet. It has an
access to approximately 19 million workers of the tourism sector
including travel and tour agencies. It would also give an opportunity to
put Oman’s marketing logo on the website of the Berlin exchange,
which is browsed by more than 14 million people. He said that this was
part of the plans of the ministry to utilise all major international
promotional platforms to strengthen the tourism sector of the country.
“The promotional efforts for the tourism sector are in line with the
Sultanate’s plan to provide more facilities for tourist visas, start direct
flights of the national carrier of the Sultanate, Oman Air, to and from
Moscow and a number of world capitals. The Sultanate aims to
increase the number of tourists coming from the German market to
more than 50,000, said al-Mahrazi.
The World Travel Exchange ITB Berlin is one of the largest
international tourism exhibitions and has the participation of the largest
travel and tourism companies of the world. It attracts around 175,000
visitors. The number of exhibitors in the World Travel Exchange in
Berlin in 2017 was 10,000 from more than 185 countries who came
here to promote their products and tourism. More than 7,000
representatives of 500 media organisations present in the event.
Source: Oman News Agency