Dubai - Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè flies to Dubai to promote the enhancement of tourism relations between Italy and the United Arab Emirates on the occasion of the Arabian Travel Market, the main industry fair in the region. The minister's visit opened yesterday afternoon with an institutional meeting with the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi. A very positive bilateral for full and rich collaboration on tourism development strategies. Following this, the minister met with representatives of the Italian business community in the United Arab Emirates. Today, Minister Santanchè, along with Italian Ambassador to the UAE Lorenzo Fanara and ENIT Spa President Alessandra Priante, visited the ATM fair, where she met with UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri. The minister then inaugurated the Italian Pavilion, curated by ENIT, which includes 8 Italian Regions (Basilicata, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Lombardy, Marche, Veneto, and Sicily), Visit Brescia, and 36 Italian tourism operators, totaling over 100 participating companies. In 2022, travelers from the Middle East to Italy increased by approximately +164% compared to the previous year and +47.7% compared to 2019, with the majority coming from the United Arab Emirates (+34.1% compared to 2019, almost 200 thousand units) and Saudi Arabia (+65% compared to 2019, approximately 100 thousand units) and an overall spending growth of +127% over the past year (ENIT Research Office based on UNWTO and Bank of Italy data). (9colonne)