London: Oman will be the guest of honour and official partner of the world travel fair ITB 2020. Ahmed bin Nasser al Mehrzi, Minister of Tourism, and Dr Martin Buck, Senior Vice-President, Travel and Logistics, Messe Berlin, the organiser of the fair, signed the agreement on the sidelines of the World Travel Market in London on Tuesday. The ITB has chosen the Sultanate to be its partner in recognition of the efforts being made by the MoT to strengthen Oman’s tourism sector. 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 ITB 2029 was extended by its organisers.
Al Mehrzi thanked ITB for making the Sultanate its official partner in the World Travel Market in Berlin in 2020. “The organisers of ITB have decided to make the Sultanate its official partner in 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 plan to strengthen development and diversify sources of income.” He said that the opportunity as an official partner of the world travel exchange ITB will increase the awareness of the Sultanate’s tourism sector and further attract tourists from around the world. Al Mehrzi said the Sultanate’s participation as a partner of ITB 2020 would open doors for the MoT to increase tourism promotion. It is an opportunity to reach potential tourists in Europe, and travel and tour agencies.
It would also give an opportunity to put Oman’s marketing logo on the website of ITB, which is browsed by more than 14 million people. He said that this was part of the ministry’s plans to utilise all big international promotional platforms to strengthen the tourism sector of the country. The Sultanate aims to increase the number of tourists coming from the German market to more than 50,000, said the minister. ITB 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 ITB 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 were also present in the event.
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