Part of the pavilion dedicated to showcasing what celebrities wrote on social media about their visits to Egypt
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Tourism, today opened the Egyptian pavilion taking part in World Travel Market (WTM) London 2019, which is being held from November 4 to 6 in the British capital London. Taking part in the opening were Ambassador Tarek Adel, Egypt's ambassador in London, and Eng. Ahmed Youssef, head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority.
During the opening, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat explained that the ministry's vision regarding participation in international tourism exhibitions is based first and foremost on focusing on quality rather than quantity, especially in designing the Egyptian pavilions in line with global marketing trends. She reviewed the technologies with which the Egyptian pavilion has been equipped and what it offers that is new this year, pointing to the importance of taking part in this travel market, especially after the British government's decision to lift restrictions on flights to Sharm El-Sheikh Airport.
In designing the Egyptian pavilion this year, the Ministry of Tourism made sure that it included, for the first time, a special section on King Tutankhamun, coinciding with the temporary exhibition "Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh" currently being held in the British capital London, which the Minister of Antiquities opened last Friday. The pavilion displays some images of the Golden Pharaoh and uses hologram technology to show some of his artifacts, in addition to replicas of some of them and a replica of his throne, which visitors can use to take souvenir photos that will be sent to them directly by email.
For the first time, the Egyptian pavilion also included a special corner highlighting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their link to the tourism sector, in order to raise the global competitiveness of the Egyptian tourism sector.
On another front, in light of promoting Egypt in a new and contemporary way through the international partnerships concluded by the Ministry of Tourism, which rely on diversifying promotional platforms, Egypt has become a tourist destination that attracted many of the world's celebrities over the past year. To capitalize on those visits, a section of the pavilion was dedicated for the first time to showcasing what these celebrities wrote about Egypt and the photos they posted on their social media accounts, which are followed by millions of their fans and followers around the world, so that visitors to the pavilion can get to know Egypt through these photos and writings, which create a real passion for the Egyptian destination.
Another section of the pavilion was dedicated under the title "Happy & Hopeful", featuring images of what was written about Egyptian tourism on various social media platforms and in the international press over the past year.
Interactive technology was used to enable visitors to the pavilion to experience tourism in Egypt and its various sites while inside the Egyptian pavilion in London, using virtual reality (VR) technology through display screens on the walls and floors of the pavilion that highlight various Egyptian tourist sites.
The pavilion also includes a space displaying promotional materials about the Grand Egyptian Museum, in addition to a screen showing a film about the museum. The pavilion also features large screens dedicated to showing the new promotional films produced by Beautiful Destinations, which are being screened for the first time to coincide with the launch of the promotional campaign for Egypt on the global CNN network, as part of the partnership between the ministry and these international entities.
The pavilion contains 4 screens highlighting various tourist destinations, including Luxor, Aswan, Marsa Alam, Hurghada and Siwa, as part of the plan to promote each tourist destination separately.
The pavilion offers some interactive activities, such as a dedicated space for writing names in hieroglyphics on papyrus using the oxide colors that were used in the Pharaonic era, in addition to an oriental music band.
A space was also allocated for the Chamber of Diving and Water Sports, containing equipment and photos of diving activities.
The Egyptian pavilion, built in the shape of a Pharaonic temple, drew a large turnout of visitors on the first day, whether to hold business meetings with representatives of Egyptian tourism companies or to view the pavilion and enjoy its interactive technology.
It is worth noting that Egypt is taking part in this exhibition this year with a pavilion covering 630 square meters, in addition to an upper floor of 100 square meters, with about 56 exhibitors, including 28 hotels and 27 companies, among them EgyptAir, in addition to the Egyptian Tourism Federation.
