Organized by Hyve Group which arranges leading exhibitions in Türkiye`s leading sectors, the “25th EMITT – Eastern Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair” was held at TÜYAP Fair Convention & Congress Center between February 9th-12nd. Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism in Turkey, Ali Yerli Kaya, Governor of Istanbul, and Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality attended the opening ceremony. Ambassadors, Consuls, Governors, Mayors of participating provinces and districts, bureaucrats and sectoral associations visited EMITT which has been aroused enormous interest.
The 25th EMITT Tourism Fair, which is one of world`s top five tourism fairs, hosted 33,595 visitors from a total of 110 countries and approximately 500 exhibitors. The "hosted buyer" program, which takes place every year as part of the exhibition, hosted more than 200 tour operators from a total of 55 countries including America, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Greece, Russia, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Azerbaijan.
Tourism professionals and holiday consumers who would like to make a holiday plan in the best destinations with an affordable price also visit the 25th EMITT Exhibition held under the corporate sponsorship of Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Turkish Airlines; and in the partnership with TÜROFED (Turkish Hoteliers Federation) and TTYD (Turkish Tourism Investors Association).
Emphasizing that the 25th EMITT Exhibition has made a great contribution to Türkiye`s economy, tourism and the country`s brand, EMITT Exhibition Director Hacer Aydın made the following statement: "After a two-year break, EMITT Exhibition has been the meeting point for distinguished state bodies, sectorial associations, tour operators, as well as various professionals in the tourism industry working in airlines, transportation and information technology companies, travel agencies and accommodation facilities, etc.," and added:
"Just like in the previous exhibitions, VIP Hosted Buyer Program to be organized to create new export channels attracted a great deal of attention. More than 200 foreign buyers from a total of 55 countries across 5 continents extending from America to Australia took part in the exhibition within the scope of the program. Thanks to Hyve Connect (B2B appointment system) to be developed for participants to have useful meetings at EMITT, which offers new acquisition, business development, new business and cooperation opportunities in the international arena, all participants have an opportunity to meet with more than 200 hosted operators in advance."
Aydın also drew attention to the fruitful times that the experts shaping the tourism industry have spent under a quite rich event program covering the tourism trends on the agenda.
EMITT Introduced Turkey`s Important Destinations
At the Exhibition where discussions about global and local agenda trends were held by participants from all over the world, invited tour operators and industry experts, the focus was on 26 countries, the world`s most important tourist attractions and nearly 70 destinations in Turkey. Visitors show strong interest in provincial and district municipalities introducing the touristic areas in Turkey to the whole world at the 25th EMITT exhibition. The main focus of the visitors was on the destinations in Mardin, Diyarbakır, Cappadocia, Hatay, Adıyaman, Balıkesir and Antalya.
The Future of the Tourism Industry was Discussed at the EMITT Conference Stage
Due to its comprehensive conference and event program, EMITT has turned into an information, inspiration and networking platform for the exhibitors and visitors. At EMITT, which has been serving the industry for 25 years and continuing its efforts to expand the industry, tourism economy, trends shaping the industry, leading destinations and technological innovations that will leave its mark on the next ten years were discussed under 5 main topics: FORUM, FUTURE, TRENDCATCHER, FOCUS, MASTER CLASS.
Just like previous year, the Presidents Forum attracted great attention this year, as well. The session "Presidents` Forum: Opinion Leaders Explain Their 2022 Predictions for the Industry" which brings together the opinion leaders of the industry, was held under the moderation of Tourism Consultant Osman Ayık, and Firuz Bağlıkaya, TÜRSAB (Association of Turkish Travel Agencies) Chairperson, Oya Narin, TTYD (Turkish Tourism Investors Association) Chairperson and Sururi Çorabatır, TÜROFED (Turkish Hoteliers Federation) Chairperson took part in the forum. The session stressed the significance of EMITT, which has been serving the industry for 25 years and continues its efforts to grow the industry, and focused on the future of the tourism industry.
In second day sessions "Influencer Marketing in the Destination Strategy of Municipalities" and "Opportunities Transforming through the Pandemic Experience and Extraordinary Routes," experience and success stories from domestic and international destinations were shared. EMITT Conference Stage hosted people whose tourism-related posts have aroused great interest and who are engaged in global collaborations through their digital content, such as Travel Writer and Journalist Bahar Akıncı, Gezimanya Co-Founder Murat Z. Özbilgi, digital content creator of @Travelcomic, Franziska Niehus from Germany and entrepreneur Harjinder Kukreja from India.
The third day of the exhibition focused on the digitalization in tourism, artificial intelligence and metaverse issues in the event "#whatnow in Tourism?" covering industrial trends. In the conference "Homecoming in Cultural Tourism", the issue of reviving historical artifacts and heritage sites in our country and Tourism industry will be discussed.
The last day of the exhibition, “Brand Story of a City” forum, which was held in cooperation with EXPO 2021 Hatay, told EMITT visitors the brand story of Hatay developing in the triangle of history, culture and gastronomy tourism under the moderation of IMM Istanbul Tourism Platform Director Özcan Biçer.
Tech initiatives that inspire the tourism industry with their new generation technologies such as Metaverse, Social Travel Network, Digital Twin and Virtual Tour are included in EMITT`s new event for this year, EMITT TECH GARAGE, which supports activities that create a bridge between creative minds and investors with its content, as well as providing an opportunity to exhibit and follow the latest products and services in the region. Visitors and exhibitors had the opportunity to make a digital discovery in the tourism industry using mobile applications, games and virtual glasses in this area; and the start-ups offered the exciting products they have developed for the tourism industry for visitors to test.
EMITT Exhibition also broke new ground and hosted health tourism professionals this year. Diversifying the tourism products and cooperation opportunities provided for foreign buyers and visitors, EMITT Fair has become Turkey`s health tourism gateway to the world.
EMITT has been the Meeting Point for the Tourism Industry in 2022, too!
