The 51st Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) broke the turnout record with over 3 million visitors in only 12 days since its inauguration, according to state-run Al-Ahram.
CIBF Director Islam Biomy stated that until Monday, the number of visitors was around 3.25 million visitors, the highest the fair has ever received.
However, the exact number of CIBF’s visitors has not been announced yet. Thousands visited the fair on its last day. This year’s CIBF ran from 22 January to 4 February.
The theme this year was “Egypt, Africa: The Diversity Culture”. Senegal was this edition’s Guest of Honour and late writer Gamal Hamdan was the fair’s main figure.
Hamdan’s most famous book “Wasf Misr” (The Character of Egypt) was sold out at the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) within the first few days of the exhibition.
There were thousands of copies sold, with purchase rates almost exceeding 500 purchases every half hour every day, according to sellers of the exhibition. The Character of Egypt Collection is being sold at the GEBO section for only EGP 140, a huge price reduction from the set’s original rate at $115 on Amazon.
One of the highlights of the 51st CIBF’s is the larger number of participating publishing houses, with over 900 houses showcasing their books in 808 sections.
