CAIRO/DOHA: This year's Qatar International Trade Fair (ITF), which took place this month, featured the participation of 160,000 local and international visitors spending $26 million. Numbers indicate the fair is the largest consumer show in the Middle East, ITF organizers said in a press statement. Eighty-four percent of 2008 exhibitors were returning from previous years, with Egyptian traders taking a record 45 exhibition stands and enjoying US$2.5 million in sales. "The 2008 International Trade Fair was a fantastic success for everyone concerned. ITF made a significant contribution to the Qatari economy, selling 48 truckloads, 12 sea containers and 4 air containers of products, and filling 1,300 Doha hotel rooms and apartments, announced Qatar Expo Director of Exhibitions, Fernando De Guama. Ossama Bourhan of Al Nayrouz agreed with De Guama saying Egyptian companies were impressed by the level of organisation at the International Trade Fair. "In my experience, the International Trade Fair is the best organized and most profitable consumer exhibition in the Middle East. Ninety percent of ITF traders surveyed agreeing the show was well organized. Large numbers of visitors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait joined the throngs of Qatari and expat shoppers to make ITF 2008 a record-breaking event. So successful has ITF become that organizers Qatar Expo are suggesting a new proposal to Qatar's tourism and exhibition authorities to develop ITF into an even larger and more professional event in coming years. "In just three years, we have created the largest and most successful consumer show in the region and are now working closely with the tourism and exhibition authorities to propose a new concept that will elevate the ITF profile to become the example for all regional trade fairs to follow, added De Guama.
