Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, opened the Egyptian pavilion at the 29th edition of the "EMITT 2026" international tourism exhibition held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 5 to 7 February, in which the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, represented by the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, takes part every year.
Taking part in the opening were Ambassador Wael Badawi, Egypt's Ambassador in Ankara; Consul Hatem El-Alfy, Egypt's Consul in Istanbul; Dr. Ahmed Youssef, CEO of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority; Rana Gohar, the minister's Advisor for Communication and External Relations and General Supervisor of the General Department of International Relations and Agreements; Suzan Mostafa, head of the authority's Central Department for Tourism Marketing; Dalia Tewig, Director of the Middle East and Turkey Unit at the authority's General Department of Foreign Offices; and Eng. Marwa Ibrahim, Director General of the authority's General Department of Exhibitions and Events.
For his part, Sherif Fathy stressed the importance of participating in this exhibition, which helps strengthen Egypt's international presence, as it is one of the most important global tourism exchanges and gatherings and an international meeting point for tourism industry professionals, offering an important opportunity to meet tour operators and airlines in the Turkish market to boost and drive inbound tourist traffic from Turkey to Egypt, noting that this market saw notable tourism growth in 2025.
The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities toured the Egyptian pavilion at the exhibition, met a group of Egyptian exhibitors and listened to their proposals for driving more inbound tourist traffic to Egypt.
The Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority is taking part in this exhibition this year with a 200 m² pavilion hosting 18 exhibitors, including 9 travel companies, 6 hotel establishments, EgyptAir and Air Cairo, as well as an aviation services company.
It is worth noting that the exhibition sees the participation of more than 100 countries around the world, including Latin American, European, Southeast Asian and some Arab and Middle Eastern countries, and is attended every year by about 600 exhibitors from industry partners in the tourism and travel sector and more than 30,000 visitors interested in the tourism industry.
Sherif Fathy's visit is scheduled to include several meetings with the Turkish side to discuss ways of strengthening joint tourism cooperation and mechanisms for driving more inbound tourist traffic to Egypt from this market and other tourism markets, along with a number of media interviews to highlight the latest developments in the Egyptian destination and showcase its diverse tourism and archaeological assets.
