Preparations are well underway for the Mediterranean Travel Fair (MTF) 2002, which will take place from September 17-19 this year at the Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Egypt.

The last MTF took place just two weeks after the events of September 11, but the support from both visitors and exhibitors was extremely positive and helped illustrate the resilience of the travel industry.

"Of course the tragic events of September 11 had an effect on MTF last year, but we were delighted that we still had attendance from almost 3,000 travel trade delegates and trade buyers from 49 countries," said Tom Nutley, managing director, Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), organisers of the show.

"As part of our visitor promotion campaign, we are working with the Egyptian Tourist Authority offices internationally and have already identified 1,000 of their top operators, who will be invited to attend MTF this year," said Lindsey Kavanagh, marketing manager for the event.

"We will be hosting these buyers at the event for three nights with complimentary accommodation provided by the Egyptian Hotels Association and heavily discounted flights provided by Egypt Air."

MTF runs under the patronage of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism nd is supported by the Egyptian Tourism Authority and other industry players.