Ministry of Tourism participates in Indian-Ocean Rim Association meeting

Muscat: The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) is currently participating in the 17th Ministerial Meeting of the Indian-Ocean Rim Association (IORA), which is being held in Durban, South Africa, from October 14 to 18.
The Sultanate’s delegation was led by Sayed Adil Almurdas Al Busaidi, tourism affairs adviser at the Ministry of Tourism.
A number of topics and issues were discussed during the meeting - including the establishment of a tourism resources center for the association’s member countries that will be headquartered in the Sultanate. The Sultanate presented a working paper on the purpose of the center and its role.
Sayed Adil Almurdas Al Busaidi, delivered a speech during the event, in which stressed on the benefits of establishing the tourism resources center, the role it will play in strengthening cooperation between member countries vis-a-vis developmental and economical ventures.
He said, “We decided to establish the center under the umbrella of the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with Oman Chamber for Commerce and Industry. The tourism resources center will offer support and help for member countries to achieve their promotional and tourism goals; and will serve as a resource to provide them with necessary tourism information.”
In order to discuss tourism industry updates and suggest new methods to develop the provided services to serve the mutual interests of the member countries, a number of other meetings between senior officials and delegation heads were also conducted on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting.
Having nearly 20 member countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Iran, Kenia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen; it is worth mentioning that Oman is one of the founding countries of the Indian-Ocean Rim Association right from its inception in 1997.