Iran has put forward a plan aimed at promoting tourism to Islamic countries in the wake of the attacks on the United States, a senior official said here Wednesday October 10.
The attacks had painted a negative picture of Islamic countries and affected tourism but the fallout could be softened through cooperation, said Mohammad Moeziddin, secretary general of Iran's Tourism Supreme Council.
"I have made a proposal to arrange for a special plan for this kind of cooperation between our countries to decrease the impact of the attacks in the US," he said. Mohammad, who is also Iran's deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance, was speaking to reporters after the opening of a meeting of officials ahead of the Second Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers
The conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday and Saturday will bring together 28 tourism ministers or their deputies from the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Mohammad said that while the impact of the terror attacks on the tourism industry in Islamic countries was negative, it had so far been minimal. In his opening speech, Mohammad said it was "compulsory to define and present proper and unified policies and strategies" to promote tourism to Islamic countries.
The meeting of senior officials would discuss in detail the necessary action to overcome obstacles in tourism development, which would then be proposed to the ministerial conference. The theme of the conference is "A Smart Partnership for Solidarity and Prosperity". The first such conference of OIC member states was held in Isfahan, Iran in October last year.
"We will discuss ways to attract tourists from in and outside OIC countries," said Tengku Alaudin Tengku Abdul Majid, secretary general of Malaysia's tourism ministry.
"In this aspect we must not have competition among ourselves, it is better to work together," he said. The conference would also discuss ways to minimize travel barriers to facilitate tourist movements in OIC countries and educational programs for tourists.
Alaudin said there was currently an "imbalance" in traveling patterns within OIC member countries, where tourists were seen to prefer visiting developed countries. "We will need to formulate a strategy that will benefit everyone and come up with a way to encourage people to also travel to developing countries. We want to show that there is so much that developing countries have to offer tourists," he said.
When asked if the US military strikes on Afghanistan had affected tourism in Islamic countries, Alaudin said the presence of most OIC member countries at the conference showed that the negative effects were minimal.
"It's too soon to say, but the high turn up at our conference and the delegates' willingness to attend the talks show me that there would be no lasting negative effects," he said. — (AFP, Kuala Lumpur)
by Julia Yeow
© Agence France Presse
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
