The Executive Office of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism chose Cairo to host its 26th session for 2020, during its 25th session in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, and the 22nd session of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism, held on December 22 and 23 this month.
The meetings were chaired by Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb, Chairman of the Board of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, in the presence of Arab tourism ministers and a number of Arab and international organizations, to discuss tourism security challenges and the mechanisms for addressing them, and to review the updated draft of the Arab Tourism Strategy document.
While it was agreed to hold the 26th session in Egypt next year, Manama was also chosen as the Arab Tourism Capital for 2020, and during the meeting the members of the Executive Office of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism for 2020-2021 were elected, comprising Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt and Tunisia.
In a related context, the Jordanian newspaper "Al-Ghad" quoted Al-Khateeb as saying that these meetings confirm the importance of joint Arab action in the field of tourism, noting that Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab countries have great opportunities to upgrade this sector and turn it into an important source of support for Arab economies.
The meetings also discussed making better use of tourism information and statistics to support the Arab Tourism Strategy, and reviewed the updated criteria for selecting the Arab Tourism Capital, as well as the decisions of the second joint meeting held in Tunisia last October, which brought together ministers of tourism and ministers of culture.
