The Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations - CEEBA, an iHERITAGE project partner, held its first in-person conference on the 10th of November at the International CairoICT Fair, which brought together major stakeholders from the global telecom, ICT, and media trade sectors from across the Mediterranean and North African regions. At the conference "ICT Powering Med Tourism," H.E. Ghada Shalaby, Vice Minister of Tourism, and Mr. Ibrahim Laafia, Head of the European Union Cooperation Delegation to Egypt, spoke. Attendees from a variety of industries had the opportunity to take participate, contribute and ask questions during an open discussion amongst major stakeholders in the field. 

The conference, which was moderated by Ms. Motserrat Penarroya, e-marketing expert from Spain, covered a wide range of themes, including the integration of Information and Communication Technologies in the tourism sector, with a variety of presentations held by Mr Moatez Sedky, General Manager of TRAVCO Holidays, and Mr Karim El Menabawi, President of EMECO Travel. Dr Alaa Ezz, secretary general of CEEBA, presented iHERITAGE project's objectives, goals and innovative products to be implemented in the Pyramid Field of Dahshur.

Prof.Dr.Nashwa El-Sherif, Professor at Helwan University's Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, and Dr. Khaled Sherif, Assistant Minister of Digital Transformation at the Ministry of Tourism, presented sessions on the trends and difficulties of "ICT in Tourism.", while Mr. Khaled Yehia, CEO of VIBES Apps, Ms. Silvia Casellas, Communication Consultant at ITERNATURA, and Ms. Sahar Barqawi, Sawwah App from Jordan, all spoke on Mediterranean ICT and tourism Start-Ups and MSMEs at the conference.

Just as the iHERITAGE Living Labs Program in Egypt is about to launch, the event helped promote the project's goals and assess what could be offered through the Living lab's programmes to increase integration of ICT in UNESCO world heritage sites across the Mediterranean. Stay tuned for upcoming events throughout the Mediterranean, and join us as we integrate game-changing innovative products into the tourism industry and UNESCO world heritage sites.