Thursday, February 9, 2017

IMTM 2017




The 23rd annual international tourism fair ( the full name of IMTM - International Mediteranean Tourism Market) was held at the Tel Aviv Trade Fair and Convention Center on 7-8 February.  

The IMTM  event  is mainly for professional bodies in the field of tourism ( tour operators, tourist agencies. cruise lines, airlines companies , hotels etc...).  It consists of presentations, seminars, workshops, conferences. Around 16:00 oclock, however,  it opens for a couple of hours, for the large public to have a glimpse at the booths representing some 50 countries and get information on various touristic destinations.

visitors at the various booths

As it was a warm, nice day I went there on Tuesday, the 7th of Feb. to wander around in the large pavilion and see what was new. 

For me, the fair was a good opportunity to get some Free city and regional  quality tourist maps, and enjoy a few attractions offered at the various booths. Well, I got my maps and even more than that; at the Lithuania stand I was given a small gift of coasters and a wooden pen. At the "Israir" Group stand, I got to refreshen my suitcase identity tags with new ones, provided freely,of course. Some of the booths  (Vietnam, China ,Ruanda ...) displayed a few handcrafted items specific to the country they represented. 


Ruanda - nice handcraft items displayed on the desk

As for attractions, Romania, for example, brought a young folksinger and a saxophonist . Very good idea of attracting people's attention. I've greatly enjoyed their  musical show. As I was born and raised in that country, it naturally brought back some memories.

the folksinger and the saxophonist at Romania booth

what a team!

Panama had a couple of women dancers in extravagant dresses


Panama dancers

Panama joy

At the USA stand there was a tall guy dressed as an Indian, and at the Slovenia stand, an elderly man dressed in an historical outfit of the austro-ungarian epoch. The israeli city of Nazareth came up with some village dressed people.


the USA  "Indian"

heavy, historical outfit at Slovenia booth

villagers from Nazareth area

At some stands, the hosts were dressed in traditional costumes
or had some traditional motifs introduced in the booth decoration.

the Moldova stand

Belarus - traditional shirt and cake

At the Dominican Republic's place there were four round little tables with satin white maps featuring the printed map of the country. Lovely sight!

round table - white  map with the country's map printed on it

The israelis had, among other exhibits, some product samples at their booths: cosmetics from the Dead Sea , food from the Galilee and other regions of the country.

cheese and olives from the Galilee

 I was nicely impressed by the fact that a tiny, almost hidden country like Albania had quite a few people approach the stand and ask for information about tourism there.

Albania booth

As I said, I was mainly looking for maps, but there was a lot of other kind of interesting stuff there as well. For example, it appears that many countries are interested in wellness tourism. So, there was a multitude of pamphlets describing Spa resorts and their conditions (prices, accomodation, medical supervision).

Information on tourist possibilities was given not only in paper format but also on  CD-s.(I've got myself the discs of Istanbul and Kenya). I asked for some info on a certain area in Ukraine , and I was given  very detailed  oral explanation  in addition to the displayed written one.

 Turkey usually gets a great deal of israeli tourists, so I was not surprised to see its tourism factors fully represented at the Exhibition.


turkish airlines booth

A visit to such an event as IMTM allows one to feel  'the world in a nutshell', as they say, and it's quite an enriching experience.




32 comments:

  1. Wow Duta this is a super interesting and entertaining event. I would have liked to visit this market. Thank you very much for your article. It was a pleasure to read you :-)

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  2. That was fun I'm sure. If only you could sample their food.

    An Indian!

    I'm not sure what would be representative but it sure as hell is NOT an Native American. We damn near killed most of them.

    Something tells me this did not come from the Obama administration.

    Many of the Indian Nations are at war again in the Dakota's. Imagine that.

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  3. Duta, I didn't realize Romania was your birth place. This exhibition shows so many different cultures and traditions, how interesting. That's delightful how some of these people were dressed up in their traditional costumes from the areas they lived. I would have loved to seen Nazareth. Oh Duta, you do see many worldly things in your travels, and it's as if I'm sharing it with you.

    ~Sheri

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  4. The Reader's Tales,

    This event takes place annually, but I've attended it only a few times in the past. Once you get the concept, there's no need to repeat the visit, unless you hear about new trends that might interest you.

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  5. Hi One Fly,

    I wrote the guy was dressed as an Indian, not that he was an Indian. I'm sorry to hear that there's some war going on with the Indian nations in Dakota. It's hard to imagine that things like that have not been settled yet.

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  6. Red Rose Alley,

    Well, this event was about travels, but I didn't really travel to all these places; not yet. Yes, I was born in Romania, so english is only my third language after romanian and hebrew. I write this blog in english so that I don't forget the language.

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  7. Great photos of this event, Duta, and I really like the dresses. Thank you so much for sharing. :)

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  8. Sounds like a wonderful day. I love fairs, especially when many different cultures are showcased. And of course the freebies that are given out are fun. Happy Day Duta.

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  9. Now that you have your maps, where are you headed next?

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  10. Linda,

    Thanks. I'm glad you like my photos; indoors is not such an ideal place to take photos, but there was strong artificial light all around, so it was not that bad.

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  11. Nikki (Sarah),

    Yes, it was a wonderful day, but I probably caught a cold in that large crowd, as two days later I fell to bed sneezing and coughing. Thank God I'm fine now.

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  12. Maps is always good to have at hand; one never knows when one will need them. As for your question, I don't know yet. It's too early for making travel plans. I usually go somewhere in summer/early autumn when the weather is nice.

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  13. That must have been a very interesting show to such a traveller as you are, Duta!

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  14. Vera,

    Indeed, IMTM is a great show and a great concept!

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  15. I am not much for crowds these days so I have enjoyed the event through your eyes. Free maps and the white tables with the country on them would have been my favorites. Peace

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  16. Lady Di Tn,

    Yes, crowds carry with them the risk of getting a cold. And indeed, two days later I got a sore throat and started sneezing.

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  17. This fair interests me, especially the Israeli exhibit. The Dead Sea makeup items would be wonderful I think. I've been to Israel twice and purchased the Dead Sea mud to purify skin. I went to a similar exhibit in San Diego, CA, and tasted samples of International foods, watched dances and enjoyed native attire. Thank you for visiting me! Your blog is very interesting.

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  18. Hello Duta, so interesting to see so many countries being represented so well. I am always keen to see traditional dress which was evident in a lot of your photos. A big day for sure, I hope you were able to obtain some maps. Did they have samples of their products to try before buying? I like when that is available.
    Cheers now and thank you for visiting my blog, you're always very welcome :D)

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  19. Saleslady371,

    Thanks for stopping by. Dead Sea cosmetic products are internationally appreciated, and I'm told that outside Israel they are much too expensive.So, good for you to have bought them at their source.

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  20. Sue (this n that),

    Hi Sue,

    Traditional costumes is a weakness of mine. I'm always attracted by their originality and colorfulness.
    As for products,as far as I could see, the emphasis was on sampling, on promotion, and advertisement rather than on buying on the spot.

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  21. Would have loved to hear that saxophone

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  22. Oh what a beautiful rich cultural experience. I love traveling especially in NZ but I love many countries Turkey is one of my favourites as well I went there some 25 years ago It was so beautiful.

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  23. Haddock,

    There's something about this musical instrument that makes its sounds almost magic.I stood there completely enchanted.

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  24. Marja,

    Yes, Turkey is a beautiful country with a lot to offer ;it's also a cheap one for tourists. However, all those terror acts of the last years make one think twice before buying the ticket. Pity!

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  25. I love the map on the round tables. Hubby adores his maps!
    The cultural performances are fun... Great post!

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  26. Jenn Jilks,

    The round tables covered with the white/blue maps at The Dominican Republic's stand, are a nice gimmick.
    I'm also a maps' lover; they're of great help in planning trips.

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  27. Wow what a nice event to attend! So many countries represented but it seems we all want tourists. Hope to see your travels maybe to some of these places. Yes Albania?

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  28. Kim@stuff...,

    The number of participating countries was,indeed,overwhelming. Hope to be able and have the opportunity to travel to some of these places. Who knows?

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  29. Now that was a great convention! The photos make you want to be there to explore all the wonderful things displayed in the booths and see the native costumes. Kudos to the USA for having the Native American Indian there!

    I'm glad you were able to get your maps and have such an enjoyable time!

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  30. Alicia,

    Kudos to the USA indeed. They should give respect to those first nations, the Indians. There's need for recognition and reconciliation on both sides.

    I 've got a weakness for maps and this was indeed a good opportunity to get some good ones.

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  31. I loved this post, and would also like to visit one of these shows. You get so much in one place!

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  32. Linda O'Connell,

    Thanks for liking my post. Indeed, one gets so much knowledge and sight-seeing in just one (vast) place!

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