The 21st East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel (EMITT) exhibition is expected to host 5,000 institutions and organizations from 80 countries worldwide as well as 60,000 local and international visitors and 430 foreign tour operators from Jan. 26-29. ITE Turkey Tourism, Travel and Fashion Group Director Hacer Aydın emphasized that among the many lessons Turkey has learned from issues facing its tourism industry over the past two years, market diversity has been the most crucial, saying: "Therefore, [ITE] has booked the second hall for foreign tour operators who will bring tourists to our country through the cooperation of Travel Shop Turkey. We will organize a program for 'Hosted Buyer,' where our domestic companies and hotel franchises will hold meetings with foreign operators."Indicating that a large portion of the 430 foreign tour operators to be featured in the exhibition bring more than 1,000 tourists to Turkey on a regular basis, Aydın added: "There are operators among those we have chosen who will enter the Turkish market for the first time, aiming to bring tourists to Turkey this year [2017]."New tour operators will provide fresh blood to Turkey's tourism industry, Aydın noted, stating that they are confident that the participation of these 430 operators will bring an additional 2 million tourists to Turkey this year.Underlining that the exhibition will include two panels, Aydın explained that the first panel, to be held on the opening day and titled "New Targets and Strategies for Tourism," will be moderated by U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General Taleb Rifai and include talks given by HOTREC President Suzanne Kraus and DRV President Norbert Fiebig. On the second day of the fair, the chairman of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management at Atılım University Prof. Dr. İbrahim Birkan will moderate a panel titled, "Branding Cities with Originality."