Judging by tourism in the Middle East, the region recovered best in the world with arrivals overtaking pre-pandemic figures.
Such was the essence of the speech on Wednesday by Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa, who was the chairman of the 49th session of the Regional Committee for the Middle East of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) which is hosted by Jordan.
Out of all countries, the Middle East region recorded a 15 per cent rise in tourism in the first quarter of this year, outstripping arrivals before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to WTO reports, the minister said.
“This is the result of easing and lifting of travel restrictions in the region,” the minister added.
The meeting comes at a delicate stage during which the tourism industry at the global and regional levels is witnessing promising signs of recovery after the pandemic, Issa said.
“This makes us all proud to continue strengthening regional co-operation and draw up a road map for the tourist industry in the Middle East to promote regional tourism programmes and products,” Issa added.
Issa said there is a need to strengthen inter-regional cooperation “to carry out marketing, promotion and incentive activities compared to competing destinations.”
He pointed out that removing obstacles to travel between Arab countries and unifying and co-ordinating regulations for anchorage in the Red Sea will be an important step towards strengthening regional tourism cooperation.
The minister said that it is important to consider raising the environmental, social and governance standards for the tourism industry.
He added that this will be done by working to integrate local communities more into tourism development programmes based on community activities, reducing harmful emissions and reducing the carbon footprint resulting from tourism activities.
In addition, Issa added, there is a need to increase investments to enhance environmental sustainability and the use of new and renewable energy sources in hotel and tourism establishments and means of tourism transportation.
The minister pointed out that the most prominent challenges are also the need to enhance the industry’s ability to absorb the accelerating international changes.
“The most important of these changes are artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, big data analysis, polarity, and populism,” Issa said.
Egypt has been a member of the WTO and the Middle East Committee since 1975 and currently holds the presidency until later this year 2023.
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