Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: The second UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture discussed strategies to leverage culture to boost tourism while hailing Oman’s efforts to promote tourism through its heritage.
The conference opened at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday, under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers. Speakers at the conference included high-ranking Omani officials and delegates from countries around the world, including Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, President of National Commission for Tourism and Heritage, Saudi Arabia; Ahmed bin Nasser bin Hamad Al Mehrzi, Minister of Tourism, Oman; Princess Dana Firas, President of Petra National Trust (PNT), Jordan, as well as the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador; and Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO, among others.
“We have adopted Vision 2040 to promote sustainable tourism that will drive jobs and increase the growth of the economy. Heritage and culture are vital parts of Oman,” said Al Mehrzi.
“We have been blessed with abundant resources in various parts of Oman, and we wish to use this to develop our nation and economy,” Al Mehrzi said.
In his speech, Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud noted: “We are very happy to see that Oman has promoted tourism while being so close to their culture, which is so rich. We hope to cooperate with Oman in the future in the tourism sector, as we have similar goals and culture.
“Tourism stabilises the industry, and it represents the relation between a person and his land and the country. Therefore, we must open our gates to tourism. Oman has set the foundation for an excellent tourism industry, and the people are very kind and friendly.”
Delegates at the conference discussed strategies to develop links between tourism and culture, and give a unique experience to travellers in every country.
According to Talib Riffai, there are more than 1.2 billion travellers across the world, and this would increase to 1.8 billion, which could mean 1.8 billion new opportunities, culture being an important element.
“If culture is the story then tourism is the story-teller,” he remarked. The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, is hosting the event for two days (December 11 and 12), in collaboration with the World Tourism Organisation and the UNESCO.
The event will see the participation of some 30 ministers of tourism and culture and 700 participants from across 70 countries.
The first day of the conference primarily included the ministerial summit on tourism, culture and sustainable tourism. On the sidelines of the conference, an exhibition for a number of academic and public institutions was also held, under the
auspices of Sayyid Fahd .
Several local authorities and organisations, such as the Public Authority for Crafts Industries, SMEs Development Authority “Riyada”, Royal Opera House, Photographic Society of Oman, National Museum, Natural History Museum, Bait Al Zubair Museum, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman Tourism College, Rustaq College of Education and German University of Technology in Oman participated in the exhibition.
