By Lakshmi Kothaneth — MUSCAT: Dec 13: Arab Tourism Strategy topped the agenda at the Executive Office meeting of the Arab Ministerial Council held at Al Bustan Palace Hotel on Tuesday. According to Amr Abdel-Ghaffar, Regional Director for Middle East and Senior Advisor on Tourism and Peace, World Tourism Organisation, the outlook for Oman and GCC for 2017 is positive and robust. Abdel-Ghaffar said the strategy is essential according to tourism experts because unlike the other regions where 80 per cent of the
total travel happens within the region as observed in America, Europe and Asia, in the Arab world, the ratio is 50:50.
Due to the geopolitical tensions, the ratio has been changing.
“There is a huge untapped potential,” say experts who have gathered for the meeting to follow up on recommendations and resolutions while developing and implementing the Arab Tourism Strategy.
The executive council discussed ways to maintain architectural heritage as well as standards of tour operators and media vendors.
Institutions that can help in joint tourism were identified in addition to organisations that can focus on marine competitions.
“In the GCC, we see a growth of many tourism market segments, particularly in the intra-region. And this is so because of the importance given to tourism by leaders of the countries as part of their economic diversification plans. The prospects for the Gulf are very encouraging,” said Abdel Ghaffar.
These are fuelled by connectivity with major airlines and airports that are acting as hubs, and infrastructure has been developed not only for air transport but also land and sea.
“All this is attracting international tourists to the region. Add to this, the existing demand for travel within the region, especially with the Expo in UAE 2020 and
Fifa World Cup in 2022. All these are recipes for growth in tourism,” he said.
Women in tourism
One of the main benefits of tourism is not just foreign exchange earnings, but also creation of jobs, said the WTO representative. Abdel-Ghaffar said that one in ten people globally work in the tourism sector, especially young people and women.
“Tourism is a sector that offers intensive work and decent job opportunities. We see that there are many success stories emerging in the Gulf and not only in the traditional receiving countries like East Africa and other places. We need to raise awareness on opportunities for women.”
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