By NNN-SANA,
Damascus : The preliminary meetings of senior officials for the Sixth Session of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Tourism Ministers have kicked off here.
The Preliminary Committee’s agenda includes discussions of strategic plans for developing tourism in OIC member countries, the draft resolution for sustainable tourism development through the cross-borders network of nature reserves in West Africa, reviewing reports by Iran, Malaysia and Indonesia on tourism development, and other issues.
Syrian Minister of Tourism Dr Saadallah Agha al-Qalaa affirmed Sunday that the Islamic world has plenty of historic, natural and cultural qualities that give it an important tourist standing, pointing out that tourism in the region has achieved remarkable growth in terms of the number of tourists.
He stressed that the Islamic world’s share of tourism is still around 21 per cent of the overall global tourism, calling for developing tourism among Islamic countries through encouraging tourist investment and creating tourist products that suit the nature of tourism in these countries and its needs.
He also called for simplifying entry procedures in border checkpoints and adopting an open air policy among member countries’ airports.
He noted that tourists arriving in Syria from Arab and Islamic countries constitute 91 per cent of tourists, exceeding 4.2 million tourists with a growth rate of 17 per cent and revenues amounting to USD 2 billion in 2007.
Al-Qalaa underlined the decisions taken by the Syrian government to facilitate tourist investment in Syria, adding that tourist investment projects that are under construction amounted to around USD 3.3 billion and are estimated to be carried out by 2010.
International tourists arriving in OIC countries increased to 92.4 million in 2004 from 34.1 million in 1990, with an annual growth rate of around 7.4 per cent, exceeding the international growth rate and rations of conventional tourist attractions.