Dubai: Social media sites have helped boost ticket sales for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature (LitFest) this March, attracting thousands of book lovers from around the world.
Happening this March 6 to 10, the LitFest's dedicated YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter pages have been getting rapidly increasing hits and visits.
Its Twitter account has seen an increase in its its followers, while its Facebook page has had a 20 percent increase in new "likes" and YouTube hits have surged by 50 percent in a matter of weeks.
"We're very excited about the way social media and the LitFest are starting to work together. Social media users from around the world are discussing the authors, the Festival and important literacy issues. We're holding regular competitions online which are proving very popular and are helping to create more awareness of the Festival and all the wonderful sessions on offer," said Festival Director Isobel Abulhoul.
"Perhaps most exciting is that we're now finding our own authors starting to link up with us and contribute too," she added.
The LitFest, which is being held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and in partnership with Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, will have more than 100 authors from 25 countries who will interact with some 30,000 audience members.
Among those who have confirmed attendance are internationally acclaimed poet, novelist and essayist Mourid Barghouti, renowned novelist and scriptwriter David Nichols, most listened-to radio host in Europe Terry Worgan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Coll, to name a few.
The social media sites regularly feature fantastic competitions, including book giveaways and a competition to win tickets to the LitFest itself next month. The number of competitions has doubled due to the increase in demand of social media users.
