Sharjah’s extravagant MiCE event attracts 77 countries

One of the most important MiCE events in the emirate of Sharjah, this year’s Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) opened under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member, Supreme Council and Ruler, Sharjah. Now in its 37th year, the fair has attracted visitors from across the globe and is considered as the second-largest book fair in the world. This edition will be hosting more than 20 million books from 1.6 million titles, 80,000 of which are new titles, and 1,874 publishing houses from 77 countries. The event will be curating 1800 events and featuring 472 guests from around the world with 200 book signing ceremonies for authors from 19 countries. Japan is the Guest of Honour at this year’s edition in celebration of its cultural and creative achievements. SIBF will be organising more than 100 activities comprising 13 Japanese authors and creative artists. The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) announced the launch of its interactive blog during its participation at the SIBF, with an aim to encourage visitors and residents of Sharjah to share their positive experiences in the emirate. The blog provides an ideal platform to share memorable experiences of visits to the emirate’s tourism and entertainment sites. In a move to better engage audiences, SCTDA’s blog will run a contest encouraging participants to write articles on their views and personal experiences about Sharjah in 300 to 400 words. Participants must focus on one of the three main categories – Culture and Heritage; Food and Street Food and Adventures and submissions, and it can include photos and a video. The participants should submit their entries through the official website www.visitsharjah.com for a chance to win and have their work published on social media platforms. The contest will run until November 25 and one winner will be chosen from each of the three categories.
HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, SCTDA, said, “The interactive blog provides us with the opportunity to connect with different segments of society and their interests by relating to their personal experiences during their visits to the emirate. At SCTDA, we continue our efforts to support the tourism sector in Sharjah, which plays a major role in strengthening the GDP of the emirate. We have committed ourselves to promoting Sharjah as an ideal family tourism destination through the adoption of innovative tourism strategies to provide a unique experience for tourists, while also maintaining the integrity of our culture and heritage, led by the Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021 that aims to attract 10 million tourists by 2021. We will utilise the SIBF platform to attract tourists seeking to explore the emirate. Recently, the emirate of Sharjah was named the ‘World Book Capital for the year 2019’ by UNESCO. The hosting of events such as SIBF will foster a culture of reading in the UAE and will create an ideal platform to enable the exchange of new ideas and cultural initiatives. It also underscores the Emirate’s keenness to promote the culture of reading among all members of society.”