Arab ministers explore means to ‘enrich cultural tourism’
Digitization of tourism heritage discussed at Tunis meeting
The deputy chairman for antiquities and museums at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), Rustom Al-Kubaisi, and the adviser to the Saudi minister of culture, Hattan Al-Banjabi, participated in the second joint meeting of Arab ministers of tourism and culture in Tunis.
Addressing the meeting, Al-Kubaisi conveyed greetings from the chairman of SCTH, Ahmad Al-Khatib, as well as his hopes that the meeting would yield positive results. Al-Kubaisi said: “The different topics we discussed are important for the integration of tourism and culture, and they aim to enrich and advance sustainable tourism in Arab countries. Based on this approach, we have all launched serious work that deserves more attention and care, whether on the level of tourism or culture and heritage — both tangible and intangible. “We look forward to improving coordination and unifying our efforts through this meeting to achieve the aspirations of our leaders and the ambitions of our people, in addition to serving cultural tourism in Arab countries,” he said. Al-Kubaisi stressed that technology gives Arab countries a great opportunity to cooperate among themselves to “enrich cultural tourism,” which could play a key role in development.
The meeting discussed a number of topics related to the development in the field of cultural tourism. A report submitted by the Secretariat General of the Arab League reviewed the conclusions and recommendations of the task team on the implementation of an initiative to integrate tourism and cultural heritage in Arab countries.
The meeting also discussed the digitization of cultural tourism and how best to support startups in this field, as well as the preservation of historical and archaeological sites and monuments. The ministers also explored ways to develop cooperation between Arab countries with regard to museums.
The second meeting of Arab ministers of tourism and culture in the capital of Tunisia coincided with naming Tunis the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019.