‘If culture is the story then tourism is the story-teller’

“We have been blessed with abundant resources in various parts of Oman, and we wish to use this to develop our nation and economy,” Al Mehrzi said.

In his speech, Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud noted: “We are very happy to see that Oman has promoted tourism while being so close to their culture, which is so rich. We hope to cooperate with Oman in the future in the tourism sector, as we have similar goals and culture.

“Tourism stabilises the indus- try, and it represents the relation between a person and his land and the country. Therefore, we must open our gates to tourism. Oman has set the foundation for an excellent tourism industry, and the people are very kind and friendly.”

Delegates at the conference discussed strategies to develop links between tourism and culture, and give a unique experience to travellers in every country. According to Talib Riffai, there are more than 1.2 billion travel- lers across the world, and this would increase to 1.8 billion, which could mean 1.8 billion new opportunities, culture being an important element.

“If culture is the story then tourism is the story-teller,” he remarked. The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, is hosting the event for two days (December 11 and 12), in collaboration with the World Tourism Organisation and the UNESCO.