Tourism in the Middle East seeks to find “opportunities” despite the regional crisis

tourism in middle Eastthe region of the world where this industry has developed the most since the pandemic of the covid-19seeks to find “opportunities” and investments to build sustainable tourism, despite the crisis and violence experienced in the region since the worsening of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

That was the main conclusion of the meeting of the UN Tourism Regional Commission for the Middle East that was held this Wednesday in Muscat, capital of the Sultanate of Oman, between the heads of the thirteen countries that are part of this group, and representatives of the organization. of the United Nations in charge of promoting sustainable tourism led by its secretary general, Zurab Pololikhasvili.

Salim Mohamed Al Maruqi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism of Oman and host of the meeting, explained to Efe that this meeting, a prelude to a meeting that on Thursday will specifically debate the challenges of sustainable tourism financing, is important precisely “because “despite the difficulties and challenges we have had,” “It is always a good option for us to consider a new direction to address them, with the awareness that behind every challenge, there is an opportunity.”

“We have to create the framework to understand each other, and how we can increase our resources, knowledge and experiences towards the common goal, so this is an opportunity”he related.

According to data from UN Tourism, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have increased a 90% and almost a 60% Their tourist visits lead the global growth of this industry, which is already about to surpass, if it has not already done so, its pre-covid records.

However, the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the regional tensions linked to that crisis, have had an impact on the area, with a decrease in visits, particularly to countries such as Jordan or Egypt.

In that sense, Al Maruqi indicated that the challenge is now “direct investment in tourism” towards the construction of sustainability, taking into account that this is a sector “which is having enormous growth and requires an enormous investment.”

“We want to ensure that we have sustainable methods so that investors can reach and participate in the sector, but to benefit all countries and national economies, with social and beneficial impacts and generating job opportunities”indicated the minister.

In the particular context of Oman, the minister recognized that his investments will also have to go to promoting itself as a destination in Spain and Latin America, aware of “being guilty of not having done enough” to expose themselves to those markets.

In that sense, and despite the problems of “air connections”, Oman already has plans in place to seek out Ibero-American tourists, to open new markets.

“We have everything, geography, landscape, adventure tourism, heritage…And the best time to come is in winter (boreal) “, listed the minister.

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