São Paulo – Morocco has one of the largest and well-situated stands at the 46th edition of Abav International Tourism Expo 2018, the industry’s fair that began this Wednesday (26) at Anhembi Parque, in São Paulo, and runs until Friday (28).
Marking the country’s fifth participation in the fair, the stand hosts twelve representatives of Moroccan travel agencies. The country’s aim is to increase business and the number of Brazilian tourists. “The goal for the participation in the tourism fair is to offer a platform to the Moroccan professionals that came to do business directly with their Brazilian clients, making it easier for them,” said the director-general of Morocco Tourism Office for Brazil and Portugal, Abdellatif Achachi, to ANBA.
In addition to travel agencies, a representative from Royal Air Maroc is also at the stand. “[The airline] is our partner, it makes sense to be here, it offers five weekly flights from Guarulhos to Casablanca, and three flights from Rio de Janeiro (Galeão),” said Achachi.
The new feature by Royal Air Maroc is the purchase of a Boeing Dreamliner 787-900, which will be used in the route taking off from Guarulhos starting in October. The plane seats over 300 passengers, against the 273 seated by the Dreamliner 787-800 that currently used in the route. The 787-800 will be transferred to the route that takes off from Rio, which currently uses a Boeing 767, with a 240-seat capacity.
Achachi said that, in the year’s first half, there was a 31% hike in the number of Brazilian tourists in Morocco. “Last year, we had 45,000 visitors, a 36% increase in the year, and we’re expecting that this year this growth will be exceeded,” said the director, mentioning that the number of Brazilian tourists has doubled the last two years, due to the rise in the number of direct flights by the Moroccan carrier.
“As a director, I’ve been attending many meetings with tour operators, to do business and find out opportunities to strike partnerships with Brazilian companies to draft a special program to Morocco; this is a priority target, plus promote the Moroccan culture to the Brazilian public,” said an optimistic Achachi.
Achachi promoted Morocco’s tourism website, told that Moroccan tourism is celebrating 100 years and that the country’s planning to open an office in São Paulo, with not date set yet. The Moroccan stand also offers Arab coffee and a calligrapher that will write the name of visitors in Arabic, an attraction that has been forming a line (picture above).
(Continues after the photo gallery)
Egypt
Egypt is also represented in the tourism expo, with the country’s Economic and Commercial Office in São Paulo organizing a stand. “We’re representing Egypt here in the fair in a bit more symbolic manner,” said Dina Dargham, secretary of Egypt’s commercial consul Mohamed Elkhatib. They aim to sell Egypt as a complete destination to tour operators, travel agencies and consumers. “There aren’t only pyramids and pharaohs, but amazing places, unimaginable resorts that go beyond expectations and your imagination,” said Dargham. The stand has promotional material on many tourism possibilities in the country, such as the Nile River Valley, the nights in Alexandria, diving in the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula, and even balloon rides, plus the traditional historical and religious tours.
Abav Expo
Geraldo Rocha, the president of both the fair and the Brazilian Travel Agency Associations (ABAV), told ANBA that the participations of Morocco and Egypt only enriches the event and that he expects the countries to return in the next editions. “Morocco has always participated in our fair, it’s a partner/exhibitor for some years now. Egypt was our last-minute guest, I was very pleased, I met with [consul] Mohamed [Elkhatib] and invited them to participate, it was the last stand to confirm participation in the fair,” said Rocha, who is of Lebanese descent.
This is the 46th edition of Abav Expo, held annualy by Abav. It’s one of the most important fairs of the tourism industries in Brazil. The 2017 edition had over 23,000 visitors, 1,100 exhibiting brands and 600 registered press members.
Quick info
Abav International Tourism Expo 2018
September 26 to 28, from noon to 8 pm
Anhembi Parque – Av. Olavo Fontoura 1,209 – São Paulo
http://www.abavexpo.com.br/
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
