During its participation in the emergency virtual session of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism, the UAE called for joint Arab coordination to ensure the speedy recovery of inter-Arab tourism.
The Minister of Economy, Engineer Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansoori, representing the UAE, participated in the session that Saudi Arabia invited, as the president of the current session (22) of the Council, to discuss ways to coordinate joint Arab efforts to counter the negative effects of the “Covid-19” pandemic on the tourism sector in the countries Arabic.
According to a statement issued yesterday, the session stressed the importance of Arab solidarity and joint Arab action in the current stage to address the negative consequences caused by the spread of "Covid-19" on tourism activities in the world, including the Arab countries, and to address the challenges resulting from the spread of the epidemic.
The best way
Al-Mansouri said in his speech during the session: “The joint Arab cooperation in the field of tourism and full coordination between Arab countries at this stage of the Corona virus crisis, the newcomer is gaining great importance to find the best ways and procedures that contribute to the recovery of the tourist movement in the Arab world, And draw a road map to return it to levels before (Covid-19), especially in view of the major negative effects of the epidemic on this vital sector, where it is expected that the total global tourism traffic by the end of this year will decrease by an estimated 57 - 78% (equivalent to 850 million - 1.1 billion tourists), in addition to losing about 120 million jobs, according to estimates by the World Tourism Organization.
Joint work
Al-Mansouri added: “For the first time in decades, we are witnessing such a complete or partial closure of the borders of all countries, the almost complete cessation of flight, restricting the movement of hundreds of millions of people and preventing them from practicing their normal lives, including tourism and travel, so we hope the session will contribute to enhancing Joint Arab action to overcome the repercussions of this crisis, and to plan together to support the tourism sector in our Arab countries, and to consider creating a joint mechanism to ease travel restrictions in a phased manner.
He stressed that the adoption of unified procedures and standards among Arab countries will have a very positive impact on the speed of easing travel restrictions and restoring tourist traffic.
The importance of coordination
Al-Mansouri stressed the importance of Arab coordination on promoting intra-Arab tourism, saying: “The measures that our countries take today will determine the speed of recovery for the tourism sector. There is no doubt that all of us are currently working on plans for the recovery of the tourism sector during the next stage, and we assure, when developing these plans, The importance of coordination between Arab countries through the General Secretariat to ensure the speedy recovery of inter-Arab tourism and place it as a priority within recovery plans. ”
Efforts and initiatives
The Minister of Economy, Sultan Al-Mansoori, reviewed the most prominent efforts and initiatives that the UAE is currently implementing to start to restore tourism activity in a phased manner, the most prominent of which are: launching programs to sterilize and disinfect tourist facilities and facilities, and issuing guides for precautionary measures and health and safety standards for the tourism sector in the country, in preparation for receiving visitors, in The spread of the Corona virus continued to decline, the opening of hotels and tourist activities, and the gradual restoration of economic movement, according to precautionary measures and health and safety standards for beaches, swimming pools, restaurants, hotel services, and others.