Istanbul meet to discuss culture tourism, sustainable development

MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman will participate in the World Conference on Tourism and Culture, which will be held between December 3 and 5 in Istanbul.

The delegation of the Sultanate led by Ahmed bin Nasser al Mehrzi, Minister of Tourism, includes Hamad bin Hilal al Maamari, Under-secretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture for Cultural Affairs.

The conference is organised by World Tourism Organization (WTO) and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

The first session of the conference, which will be participated by the ministers of tourism and culture from countries from around the world, will discuss strengthening cooperation between government organisations concerned with tourism and cultural sectors.

There would also be discussions on the exchange of experiences and examples of practices to harmonise policies and implementation mechanisms to accelerate sustainable development of cultural tourism. It will also discuss how to support governments in various countries around the world for partnership between the public and private sectors on the one hand, and ways to strengthen cooperation between tourism, culture and society on the other hand to achieve the desired goals of sustainable development. The first session of the conference of ministers of tourism and culture will also discuss the actions which must be taken to achieve a sound and responsible balance between the tourism development and the preservation of its gains.

The first day of the conference will address topics and visual presentations related to the promotion of global partnerships in the sustainable development of cultural tourism.

It will also discuss innovations which can help protect cultural heritage and sustainable cultural tourism. Officials and experts from the World Tourism Organizations, Unesco, the World Bank and a number of ministers of tourism and culture, participants and decision makers and officials of a number of organisations, companies, tourism facilities and international hotels will give presentations.

The topics of the second day are centred on responsible tourism to protect the intangible cultural heritage by focusing on local communities, and how to preserve this heritage, responsible practices and products which guarantee safe transfer of these heritage to the next generations.

The second and third day of the 3rd UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture will see the announcement of the Istanbul Declaration of Tourism and Culture 2018 and a presentation by the host country about activity of the 4th conference before the closing ceremony.

The Sultanate had hosted the 2nd UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture on December 11 and 12 last year. The conference was the largest international event organised on the occasion of the World Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development.

There would also discussions to harmonise policies and implementation mechanisms to accelerate sustainable development of cultural tourism