The delegation representing the emirate of Sharjah for the 8th Sharjah GCC Road Show – organized by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), in association with representatives of the emirates tourism sector, and scheduled to include five major GCC destinations: Doha, Kuwait, Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah is continuing with its efforts to encourage regional tourist activities and strengthen tourist ties among GCC countries.

The delegation embarked on the promotional tour on 7 April 2009 with the intention of highlighting Sharjah’s unique tourist attractions in order to lure more GCC tourists to the emirate.

Representatives of the Sharjah delegation were keen to hold business meetings with their counterparts from leading travel and tourism agencies in Qatar and Kuwait to discuss methods of cooperation and increasing GCC tourist influx into the emirate.

SCTDA organised workshops in Qatar and Kuwait to present Sharjah’s latest tourist offerings to travel and tourism industry in the two gulf countries. The workshops have attracted significant interest within the tourism sector, with key travel and tourism companies in both countries expressing an interest in Sharjah’s tourist attractions, as the emirate has become a favoured tourist destination for Qatari and Kuwaiti families, attracting 19,000 Qatari and 36,000 Kuwaiti tourists in 2008.

The workshops also received good media coverage in both countries, with detailed reports about the workshops being published on the front pages of local business newspapers, as well as broadcast on TV and radio.

In addition to the SCTDA, the Sharjah delegation includes senior representatives from the Sharjah Museums Department, Air Arabia, the Sharjah Millennium Hotel, the Golden Tulip Hotel, Radisson SAS Resort, Verona Resort and Marbella Resort. The delegation will also visit three destinations in KSA, a key market for the emirate of Sharjah as the Saudi tourists are leading the way in the number of tourists visiting Sharjah.

H.E. Mr Mohamed Ali Al Noman, Director General of the SCTDA, stressed the importance of this promotional tour and the meetings held by the Authority and Sharjah’s travel and tourism agencies with representatives from key travel and tourism agencies in Qatar and Kuwait. Al Noman hailed the impressive interest shown by GCC travel and tourism industry in Sharjah, saying that it highlights the emirate’s leading position as a unique tourism destination for GCC tourists.

“We have been keen to provide accurate information about all the tourism attractions in the emirate of Sharjah, and to exchange views on ways to further boost the emirate’s leading position on the regional tourism map and lure more GCC tourists to visit Sharjah,” said Al Noman. “GCC tourists are make up the second largest geographical tourism group to the emirate, according to recent statistics. Representatives of Sharjah’s travel and tourism sector have showcased their summer offerings for the GCC tourists on the occasion of the imminent launch of the Sharjah Summer Promotion 2009, which will include special discounts, prizes and offers to encourage shopping activity during the summer.”

“The SCTDA is endeavouring to push the wheels of economic growth forward, in line with the fast growth witnessed in the tourism sector. We will intensify marketing and promotional activities for the emirate to further boost Sharjah’s leading position on the regional and global tourism map. These campaigns will focus on highlighting the emirate distinctive attractions as a unique tourist destination which blends the historical settings and cultural significance with all features of a modern city”, he added.

“At a time when the emirate of Sharjah is being recognized as a favoured destination on the world tourism map, the SCTDA is putting together a number of initiatives that will further boost this leading position. The Authority is actively involved in organizing and participating in a number of prestigious events, all of which have gained global exposure. This Gulf promotional Road Show is an initiative that will create further opportunities for the emirate of Sharjah to showcase its tourist attractions. The SCTDA is building on the success it has experienced in the GCC promotional Road Show over the past 7 years,” Al Noman concluded.

According to recent statistics, the number of GCC tourists to Sharjah was 398,186 in 2008, accounting for 27 percent of the 1.5 million tourists visiting the emirate – a significant increase from the 600,000 visitors Sharjah received in 2001. The number of hotel facilities in the emirate has increased to 103 (37 hotels and 66 hotel apartments), with 8,000 hotel rooms, and the average hotel occupancy rate remained at 86 percent throughout 2008.

These figures prove the vital importance of these tourism markets and justify the tremendous efforts exerted by the SCTDA on these markets and the host of tourist promotions and products offered by the authority for the GCC tourists.