The Arab Tourism Organization participated in the 46th meeting of the Middle East Committee of the World Tourism Organization (United Nations), which was held yesterday morning (Monday) 06-07-2020 AD, via ZOOM technology, where the Arab Tourism Organization was represented by its Secretary-General Sherif Fathi Attia, explaining that A presentation was made on UNWTO initiatives on the COVID-19 crisis and regional activities to deal with the crisis globally.
Also, during the meeting, interventions were made by the ministers of the member states of the Middle East Committee to discuss many issues of common interest, the most important of which are the impact of the outbreak of the Corona virus (Covid-19) on international tourism, international protection for tourists, and restoring the confidence of tourists to return to the Middle East, given that the tourism sector is One of the sectors most affected by the pandemic, due to the restrictions imposed on travel in addition to the cancellation of thousands of trips, which led to a reduction in tourism and travel services and exposure to negative effects on the tourism sector globally and in the Middle East, indicating that the axis of innovation and transformation has also been addressed. Digital, as investing in digital technology has become an integral part of the tourism industry, and encouraging governments to support tourism companies operating in the sector to shift to digital tourism, stressing that innovation and technology represent an opportunity to transform tourism into a more competitive and sustainable sector, in addition to finding a mechanism for innovation. For investment and entrepreneurship in tourism projects in the Middle East.
Sherif Fathi continued his speech, indicating that the organization had provided many recommendations, reports and graphic analyzes since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, within the framework of its crisis management team, stressing the fruitful and effective cooperation with the Arab Air Carriers Association, the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, and the World Health Organization for the Middle East region, in order to serve The Arab tourism sector, explaining that the organization has adopted some solutions and programs to support and develop tourism for the Arab world, which was summarized in working to establish a fund for sustainable tourism development, and put forward the idea of issuing travel policies for tourists that cover the tourist’s exposure to the Corona virus during his trip, in addition to benefiting from the agreement signed with the bank. The Islamic Development Corporation through the Islamic Corporation for the Guarantee of Investment and Export Credit, in order to attract capital to invest in the Arab world immediately after the end of the pandemic, in addition to the implementation of many training and rehabilitation courses, which aim to train 10 thousand trainees throughout the Arab world, through the online technology, which started It has already been implemented through a course on the quality of tourism services through the ISO 211401 specification, which is related to the sustainability and quality of the tourism sector and its affiliated sectors, which was attended by more than 450 trainees from employees of ministries and tourism authorities in the Arab world.
Ibrahim Aqili (Jeddah) @iageely