In a new marketing approach to position Sharjah firmly on the world tourism map, Mohamed A Al Noman, director of Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), headed the emirate of Sharjah delegation to the Moscow Leisure Exhibition held last month at the Olympic Sports Complex.
The delegation consisted of senior representatives of major players in the travel and tourism industry in Sharjah including Sharjah International Airport Authority, Sharjah Airport Travel Agency, Sharjah National Hotels (Marbella Resort, Holiday International and Oceanic Hotel), Coral Beach Resort, Radisson SAS Resort, Millennium Hotel, Embassy Suites Hotel, Marhaba Resort, Sharjah Rotana Hotel and Radisson SAS Resort.
Moscow Leisure Exhibition is the main international autumn fair in Russia and marked the beginning of the winter season. It provided the perfect timing for companies to prepare programmes for the fall and winter season and fix the new rates. It was a good occasion for Sharjah’s delegation to meet Russian buyers and to establish new business contacts and finalise contracts with Russian travel agents.
Attending the exhibition for the fifth time, SCTDA increased its exhibition floor space to 72 sq m. The stand had large graphic detailing of prominent landmarks of the Sharjah City. “Sharjah’s tourism sector has benefited from our participation at the exhibiton,” said Al Noman. “Being the second biggest tourism market for Sharjah – more than 250,000 Russian tourists visited the emirate in 2004 – the Russian market is of great importance for Sharjah. We hope our share from the Russian tourism market his year will grow as a result of our participation at the exhibition.”