For the first time, the two most visited countries by the GCC, France and Spain have collaborated to bring out a special event titled, “Marhaba France, Spain 2023” which will take place in the Sultanate of Oman from 6th to 9th March 2023. The on-site event will bring in 70 suppliers from the two countries to meet 100 buyers from nine countries in GCC and ME region and expects to conduct over 2000 meetings.
Karim Mekachera, Regional Director, Middle East, and Turkey, Atout France, “We will be organising Marhaba in collaboration with Spain and will be named as “Marhaba France, Spain 2023”. We have an array of 70 suppliers that will come over to meet with the travel trade from the region coming from nine different countries and of course this year we wanted to make something new and something different and as we work in the tourism industry, we thought to organise this event in another great destination and very popular in France, the Sultanate of Oman. Over three days we will have more than 2000 meetings, along with a special entertainment program, a special press corner for journalists to meet with all the different stake holders and promote both destinations. France and Spain remain as the two first destinations in terms of tourist arrivals in the world, so with this collaboration we also intend to introduce our travel trade to make the most of this event and partnership as they will be able to design new itineraries which can cover both countries France and Spain as they plan for their clients. We want the travel trade to think out of the box and give their Middle East clientele something new and exciting to look forward to.”
Daniel Rosado, Director Turespana, Spain tourism in GCC Countries, reiterated, “Turespaña is aiming to continue as a leader in the tourism sector, and we do that throughout a strong presence in the Middle East market and through innovative tools and channels. This is the first time that an event of this type is organized. The two biggest tourist countries worldwide get together to promote their countries in a very special location: the sultanate of Oman. This event, from 6th to 9th of March 2023 at the award-winning beachfront Kempinski Hotel Muscat will host more than 100 buyers from across GCC and Levant countries. In this special venue B2B interactions and networking events will help to strength the ties between offer and demand. The Spanish delegation will comprise around 25 tourism related companies and destinations that will showcase all the variety that Spain has to offer to the region and will inspire travel to known and less known destinations within the country. The aim is to reinforce the main destinations and also to showcase and open new options to the trade of all that Spain offers.”