The Atout France office in Middle East organised the 8th edition of its B2B showcase ‘Marhaba 2022’ last month held on the occasion of the Dubai Expo 2020. This edition was a special one as the showcase hosted 120 professionals from 11 countries, including the Middle East, and for the first time delegates from India and Israel had the opportunity to meet and interact with 61 tourism professionals from France.
A total of 1,900 pre-programmed one-on-one interactions took place over 2 days enabling French tourism stakeholders such as DMCs, accommodation partners, catering services, transporters, leisure and entertainment parks and shopping centres to showcase their touristic offers.
The event kicked off with an official opening ceremony at the Sofitel Obelisk Hotel and continued with the first workshop session at the French Pavilion at the Dubai Expo. The Paris Regional Tourism Board and La Vallée Village organised a special Paris soiree that took place at the Sofitel Obelisk. The second day started at the Sofitel Obelisk Hotel with a presentation of the Destination Cote d’Azur to tour operators and travel agencies, followed by the second workshop session in the ballroom of the Raffles Hotel.
A press lunch with Destination Cote d’Azur was held, as well as a press conference with Galeries Lafayette. Marhaba 2022 ended with a White Party at the restaurant La Cantine du Faubourg where our guests enjoyed a final evening of networking.