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ocus on TURKEY NEWSFerry Services Begin Between TRNC <strong>and</strong> Lebanonn‌Ferry services have begun between Gazimagusa port of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) <strong>and</strong> Lebanese port cityof Tripoli. A ceremony was held in Tripoli on Tuesday to mark the launch of ferry services. A Turkish-flagged passenger boat hasdocked at the port of Tripoli for the first time after 100 years, Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon told the ceremony. Lebanon has beenthe second country in East Mediterranean, after Syria, that launched ferry services with TRNC’s Gazimagusa, Ambassador SerdarKilic said. The ferryboat departed from Gazimagusa <strong>and</strong> sailed to Syria’s Latakia. The boat later proceeded to Lebanon’s Tripoli.TRNC <strong>and</strong> Syria launched ferry services between Gazimagusa <strong>and</strong> Latakia two years ago.Turkey to Take place at 142 Fairs in 2010n‌Turkish Culture <strong>and</strong> Tourism Ministry announced that Turkey will be promotedin 142 cultural <strong>and</strong> tourism fairs in 36 countries next year. Turkey will continueto promote its cultural <strong>and</strong> touristical values at 7 important events; Utrecht, Fitur-Madrid, BIT Milan, ITB Berlin, MITT 2010 - Moscow, Arabian Travel Market –Dubai <strong>and</strong> World Travel Market – London.EMITT 2010 Guest Country is Egyptn‌ East Mediterranean International Tourism <strong>and</strong> Travel Exhibition (EMITT) isopening its doors fort he 14th time to tourism professionals from all over the world.Hosting Egypt as the guest country of this year, EMITT 2010 Fair will be held atTÜYAP Fair, Convention <strong>and</strong> Congress Center in Beylikdüzü between February11 <strong>and</strong> 14, 2010. The guest country Egypt aims to attract people’s attention as a tourism destination through the fair regardedto be salient to the global tourism. Aiming to overcome the recession due to the global crisis, Egypt will introduce a number ofpromotional activities at EMITT 2010. Considering Turkey a very important market with its great potential in tourism, Egypt believesto further reinforce the relationships between the two countries by means of EMITT Fair. Egypt hosted 44 thous<strong>and</strong> Turkish tourist in2006, 50 thous<strong>and</strong> in 2997 <strong>and</strong> 52 thous<strong>and</strong> in 2008 <strong>and</strong> the country aims to increase the number of tourists visiting Egypt. Egyptestablished a consulate tourist Office in Istanbul 3 years ago. The guest country’s main message is “Egypt has it all!”, which meansthat in Egypt once can find any type of tourism such as therapeutic tourism, desert tourism, cultural tourism, adventure tourism, leisuretourism, sport tourism, golf tourism, shopping <strong>and</strong> diving, <strong>and</strong> the country sees the fair as an important step in promoting Egypt as atourist destination. The Egyptian Minister of Tourism <strong>and</strong> the Chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority are planning to attend thefair. Egypt will organize a press conference <strong>and</strong> an Egyptian night with special Egyptian cuisine <strong>and</strong> folklore dancing. There will besome presents for the visitors of Egyptian booth where Egyptian drinks like Karkadee <strong>and</strong> Tamr Hendy will be offered <strong>and</strong> famousTanora dancing can be enjoyed. Nehad Gamal Eldin, the representative of Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, states that their sponsorshipis significant in terms of tourism strategies for 2016 <strong>and</strong> adds, “We have always taken part in EMITT Fair every year since it hasstarted. The outcomes we attained here geared towards the decision to sponsor the fair as the ‘guest country’ <strong>and</strong> we signed anagreement with Ekin Fair Organization who organized this fair as a part of the Ekin Group. We will participate in the fair with theministry representatives <strong>and</strong> 15 tourism agencies from Egypt. Providing us with opportunities to cooperate with countries <strong>and</strong> firmsthe fair, EMITT 2010 will definitely prove to be an important platform.” Stating that Egypt is only known for the pyramids <strong>and</strong> theNile while they have many other natural <strong>and</strong> historical beauties in Egypt Nehad Gamal Eldin says, “For Turks, Egypt has a capacityto offer much more than known. And EMITTFair is a great opportunity to show the valuesof Egypt to both Turkey <strong>and</strong> the world. EMITTDirector Hacer Aydın expressed her views asfollows: “We are very excited to host Egypt asthe country this year. The applications to thefair this year indicate that EMITT 2010 which isregarded as one of the most important 10 eventsworldwide has become a hope for countries inthe field of tourism which has persistently beenignored by the government. The sponsorship ofEgypt as the guest country to EMITT is a cleardemonstrator of this expectation. Also, Greece,another competitor country in tourism, promotesits country in billboards located in Istanbul,Antalya <strong>and</strong> several others to attract Turkishtourists to Greece. It shows that the surroundingcountries <strong>and</strong> regions regard Turkey as apromising platform for further developments intourism.”10September / October’09