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Islamic Tourism Conference to Open in Tehran
TEHRAN, Aug 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)- Reformist Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is to inaugurate a two-day tourism meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Monday in which some 22 Islamic states are to be represented, secretary of the conference, Mohammad Reza Abdul Rahimi told Iran's official news agency, IRNA.
Speaking to reporters, Abdul Rahimi said the conference will be divided into three different sections: tourism facilities such as air, sea, and rail transportation, visa formalities, customs formalities and investments; marketing and publicity, and training and research.
Tourism ministers from over 20 Muslim states, along with bankers and statisticians, will attend the conference.
"Representatives form Islamic Development Bank, Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Social Statistics Research Center of Islamic States, Islamic Technical Institute, Union of Islamic Banks, Organization for Islamic Capitals and Metropolitan Cities, Islamic Radio and Television Organization and International Islamic News Agency will participate in the conference", Rahimi added.
Meanwhile, renamed Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ahmad Masjed Jamei, said special attention on tourism by Islamic countries is "an inevitable necessity" from the cultural and economic point of view.
Addressing the opening session of a coordinating session of Muslim states' tourism ministers, Masjed Jamei said his country is fully determined and prepared under existing possibilities to forge an active and constructive cooperation with all members of the greater Islamic community, IRNA reported.
A coordinating session of Muslim states' tourism ministers aims to find ways of expanding tourism cooperation among the world's Muslim states. The session will also look into ways of implementing points approved in a first gathering held last year in Isfahan.
Most Islamic countries: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Senegal, Mali, Mozambique, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Brunei and Tajikistan, are taking part in the two-day conference.
In the 9th OIC meeting in Qatar in 2000, the organization lauded the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran to promote tourism among Islamic states, and the current meeting is to pursue the agreements reached at the Qatar meeting, IRNA said.
The 22 Islamic countries have been chosen from among OIC members to help promote tourism among Islamic states.
According to the latest statistics issued by the World Tourism Organization, world tourism has generated about dlrs 476 billion, which is the third source of revenues in the world after oil and automobiles, while the share of the Islamic states is a mere seven percent of the amount.
Among Islamic countries, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia and Morocco topped the list, earning 5.2, 4.7, 3.9, 3.5, and 1.8 billion dollars respectively from tourism.
Some 1.4 million tourists visited Iran last year, earning the country an income of about 800 million dollars.
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