This article was written for Fethiye Times by Şemsi Toprak
The 23rd East Mediterranean International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (EMITT) was held between 25th and 28th of January in Istanbul TUYAP Fair and Exhibition Center.
The event is considered to be one of the five major tourism fairs in the world and annually attracts over 46.000 industry professionals and tourists from across the globe.
There were 1065 exhibitors from 85 countries at the EMITT this year but the majority of the exhibition space was devoted to destinations in Turkey.
An accelerated tour around Turkey
Visiting EMITT is like having an accelerated tour around Turkey. All the destinations presented in the fair were competing with each other by presenting their unique selling points and, of course, serving a selection of their local foods to the visitors.
Apart from learning details about many different Turkish destinations, calling EMITT also a Turkish food extravaganza is not an exaggeration. You could enjoy free treats while wandering around the destination stands, from special toast sandwiches of Ayvalik to many different authentic dishes and desserts from distant parts of Anatolia.
Fethiye at EMITT
Naturally Fethiye was also presented in EMITT with a very successful and strong consortium led by the Fethiye Municipality.
The slogan for this year was again “New Trend Fethiye” which is an ongoing promotions campaign managed by local tourism stakeholders and professionals.
The latest Fethiye promotion videos were shown at the the giant screen installed at the stand which was almost always busy with visitors and tourism professionals.
Representatives from hotels, tour operators, chambers, tourism cooperatives, NGOs and local authorities were all presenting Fethiye at a very high level and one could feel the synergy even from a distance.
![Solidarity was the key to success for Fethiye in EMITT]()
A cocktail party
A cocktail partyRight after the opening day, Fethiye became one of the most talked about destinations at the fair and even the big space reserved for the stand wasn’t enough for the people who attended the cocktail party hosted by Fethiye Tourism Council on the second day.
The party brought the interest of the national press and interviews with Fethiye Mayor Behcet Saatcı were shown on various news channels that day.
An award
It was certainly not a surprise when Fethiye stand was given the Best Destination Presentation Award by the EMITT organization committee.
For Fethiye, 2018 EMITT was a great example of what can be achieved if local organizations can work in harmony for a common cause.
Fethiye to “play host” to visitors in 2018
Right after the event, an assessment meeting was organized by Fethiye Tourism Council to identify the next steps after this great start to 2018 tourism season preparations. It was agreed by all the representatives that most important thing is not to just “bring” tourists to the destination but to “play host” to them in the most genuine and honest ways.
All the organization representatives and leaders pledged to pass this message to their members so that Fethiye can keep its promise and present Turkish hospitality at its best.
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