The Egyptian pavilion participating in the UITM travel and tourism exhibition, held for the 26th time in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv from October 2 to 4 this month, won the admiration of exhibition visitors, who flocked in large numbers to enjoy the interactive activities and the musical and artistic performances at the pavilion, and took souvenir photos.
A special hashtag, #Egyptuitm2019, was launched during the exhibition, through which visitors shared their best shots and souvenir photos on the social media sites Facebook and Instagram. These photos received great interaction and following on social media, and a series of competitions was organized among visitors, with souvenir prizes awarded.
This exhibition is one of the largest international tourism events in Ukraine, attended by Ambassador Hossam El-Din Ali, Egypt's ambassador in Kyiv, who opened the exhibition with the participation of Mohamed Abdel Latif, the tourism counselor in Prague and supervisor of the Ukrainian market.
It is worth noting that the Ukrainian market is one of the most important promising markets for the Egyptian tourist destination, and it has seen great development in terms of the volume of tourist traffic and arrival numbers, as it is on the list of the top 10 source markets for tourist traffic to Egypt, taking second place after the German market. The importance of this market has grown since Ukraine International Airlines began operating direct flights between Kyiv and Cairo in April 2018.
The Egyptian pavilion at the exhibition was praised by visitors and by the participating Egyptian hotels and companies for its excellent location, as well as for being equipped with modern technologies such as holograms and interactive screens containing pictures and information about Egyptian tourist destinations in several languages, in addition to the use of 3D virtual reality "V.R" glasses showing pictures of various Egyptian tourist destinations such as the Red Sea, the Pyramids, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, in order to achieve the greatest possible interaction with visitors.
Screens were set up showing promotional materials on each tourist city separately, such as Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and Luxor, and the walls of the Egyptian pavilion were decorated with promotional materials for the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, a series of professional meetings was held with the largest tour operators in the Ukrainian market, a touristic, TPG, Join Up, TEZ, TUI, Coral Travel, Pegas and Anex, during which they were thanked for the success achieved last year and urged to make further efforts during the current year. The meetings also addressed preparations for the coming tourist season and targeting high-spending segments by offering programs for new products such as cultural tourism to Cairo, Alexandria and the Nile Valley governorates, alongside beach tourism, in addition to inviting celebrities and a number of travel bloggers from Ukraine to visit Egypt in the coming period.
The Ukrainian market is scheduled to see more promotional campaigns and tourism roadshows in the coming period in cooperation with tour operators, to drive more inbound tourism to Egypt during winter 2019-2020, as well as promoting the Grand Egyptian Museum in coordination with professional partners, particularly Ukraine International Airlines, which operates 4 direct weekly flights to Cairo.
