The International Tourism Fair will be held in Belgrade from February 23-26, simultaneously with the International Hotel/Restaurant Equipment Fair Horeca and the International Wine Fair Beowine 2012, the Belgrade Fair released in a statement.

State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development Goran Petkovic recently told Tanjug that the 2012 Tourism Fair will gather the greatest number of visitors so far, including participants from 46 countries, and guests from the Czech Republic, Israel and Germany, who will be there for the first time.

Petkovic said that this year's fair will be opened by Secretary General of the World Tourist Organization Taleb Rifai, and attended by President of the European Travel Commission Petra Hedorfer and Ertugrul Gunay, the minister of culture and tourism of Turkey, which is this year's partner of the fair.

On the occasion, Rifai will open the international conference on sustainable development of rural tourism in Serbia and other countries in the region.

“This will be a ministerial mini-summit in Belgrade, which will be chaired by the World Tourist Organizations secretary general. The summit will table global trends in tourism development, particularly rural tourism as the region's chance to attract guests, primarily from the region, surrounding countries and other parts of Europe,” Petkovic said.