The 52nd session of the Cairo International Book Fair, which concluded on Thursday, received 1.7 million visitors.
Sectors of the Culture Ministry sold more than 160,000 book copies.
The exhibition’s digital platform saw 225 million hits while and the numbers users registered reached nearly one 1.6 million account.
The platform exceeded 270,000 virtual tours and saw over 1.5 million book views online.
The Head of the General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO) Haitham al-Hajj was elated at the great success achieved by this exceptional session of the fair, which he ranked as one of the most important cultural events in the world.
He saluted Culture Minister Enas Abdel-Dayem for her great support and issuing of decisions that helped the event’s success.
These included a 20 percent reduction in the rents for all Egyptian and Arab publishing houses, as well as an increase of five days over the scheduled period and an increase in the daily capacity of visitors.
The 52nd edition of the two-week Cairo International Book Fair was held under the slogan “Reading is Life” and featured 1,218 publishers from 25 countries.
This year, the exhibition witnessed the launch of the “Your Culture, Your Book” initiative, under which certain book prices range between LE1 and LE20.
Additionally, a digital platform for the exhibition that allowed attendees to book tickets, view the fair’s map, and watch live seminars and workshops have been launched this year.
The Director CIBF Islam Bayoumi said that the online platform of Cairo International Book Fair provided unique digital services for the first time due to social restrictions from COVID-19.
Bayoumi said that the exhibition’s online portal included all publications and all publishing houses, and the exhibition launched virtually on June 30.
“The virtual exhibition will be in 3D technology, meaning that the visitor can roam the exhibition halls and roam between its corridors as if on the ground. The visitor can also click on any book on the shelves, and it will show information about the book, its price, and everything related to it,” he said.
