Emitt, one of the biggest travel and tourism fairs in the Mediterranean began in Istanbul on Thursday. The guest country of this year’s fair is Egypt.

Emitt, one of the biggest travel and tourism fairs in the Mediterranean, kicked off in Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü fair grounds yesterday. The guest country of this year’s fair, celebrating its 14th edition, is Egypt.

Tourism and Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay, who attended the opening ceremony of the fair together with Egypt’s Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah, noted world tourism declined by about 4 percent in 2009.

“At the same time tourism revenue globally declined by 5 percent. Turkey however is one of the only countries that increased the number of arrivals last year,” he said.

Tourism grew 2.4 pct in 2009

Over the first 11 months of 2009 some 25.9 million foreigners visited Turkey. In comparison with the 2008 figures, this was a 2.4 percent increase.

Garranah said tourism is becoming one of the most important sectors for the Egyptian economy. “Tourism has become the main contributor to Egypt’s economic growth, making some 14 percent of all revenue and 11 percent of the gross domestic product in total. However, our current annual revenue from tourism, $10.7 billion is far below our potential,” he said.

Five new countries

Some 60 countries are represented at this year’s fair. Among new participants are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria, Tanzania, the Russian Republic of Tatarstan and Japan. Adnan Vlajcıc from the Bosnia and Herzegovina tourism agency said most tourists visiting the country are currently from neighboring countries including Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, followed by visitors from Turkey. Approximately 1 million people visit Bosnia each year.

“This is our first time at the Emitt but we already think that maybe we should have come here earlier. There is a lot of potential in the Turkish market, which is a big one with nearly 80 million people. Bosnians and Turks are very close to each other; we have a good relationship with Turkey. Turkish people do not even need a visa to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Vlajcic told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review