Friday 15 / November / 2024
Muscat: Oman, represented by the Ministry of Tourism, will take part in the International Maritime Exhibition in La Rochelle, France, which is the fifth largest annual international exhibition in-water boats, marketing of water tourism services and activities.
For the first time in the Middle East, the Sultanate has been chosen as the guest of honour for this year’s 2017 edition of the International Maritime Exhibition at the port of Grand Pavois in La Rochelle on the French West Coast overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
The exhibition is a major platform in the marine tourism sector to promote everything new and distinctive in the world of leisure navigation, where its area of 100,000 square metres in the port of Grand Pavois attracts more than 800 exhibitors from more than 30 countries around the world, and yearly the number of visitors to the exhibition is about 90,000.
Salim bin Oday Al Ma’amari, Director General of Tourism Promotion at the Ministry of Tourism, said that Oman was chosen to be the first country in the Middle East as a guest of honour in this exhibition. It is one of the exhibitions that the French Republic is keen to set up on an annual basis because of its importance, and it is an opportunity to the French to meet with those concerned with sea tourism, and ocean explorers, not only at the French level, but also worldwide.
He added in a statement to the Oman News Agency (ONA) that the Sultanate’s participation comes within the framework of the strong historical relations between the Sultanate and the French Republic.
It also comes within the framework of consolidating these relations between the two countries. He said that the French market is considered one of the
promising and important markets for the Sultanate, and the number of tourists is increasing due to the promotion efforts by the Ministry of Tourism to promote the Sultanate and all tourist attractions.
The Sultanate’s pavilion includes eight sections, the first of which will deal with the Omani public and private institutions related to this participation. The second section will present tourism promotional offers and information about the Sultanate, while the third section will provide a presentation about the Renaissance witnessed by the Sultanate and the tourism and cultural elements of the Omani environment and society.
The fourth is dedicated to the arts and cultural performances. The fifth section is dedicated to Omani hospitality, giving visitors a chance to taste coffee, dates, Omani sweets. The sixth section is allocated to the mini exhibition of traditional handicraft industries, and the seventh section is for the Omani photo gallery, in addition that some photographers with experience in this field, along with some artists and calligraphers will present live performances. The eighth section is dedicated to Omani fashion shows for men and women from different governorates of the Sultanate.
The Ministry of Tourism is looking forward, through participation, to highlight a number of integrated tourism projects with waterfront, which may attract the attention of specialists and interested on the one hand and may open investment horizons in this sector on the other hand.
The participation in this specialised international exhibition and in a well-known tourist market on this scale is an important opportunity to be present in such major platforms to promote the maritime tourism sector and the water tourism services and activities in the Sultanate, especially with these potentials and open seas overlooking the coasts and beaches of Oman, in addition to direct communication with the specialised international media channels that will be present at this exhibition.
