JEDDAH: Bandar bin Fahd Al-Fuhaid, president of Arab Tourism Organization (ATO), announced that the ATO has decided to grant Tunisian President Beji Caid Sibsi the Arab tourism necklace of excellence in recognition of his support to the tourism sector in Tunisia.
Al-Fuhaid has also said that a poverty fund with participation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) would be established in Tunisia, in addition to establishing a regional tourism training center in Tunisia that will cover all Maghreb countries.
“A branch of the Arab Tourism Organization will also be opened in Tunisia and will cover all Maghreb countries,” he said.
Tunisian Tourism Minister Salma Elloumi Al-Rakik said that Tunisia was appreciative of King Salman for the continuous support of Tunisia in all levels.
Al-Rakik told Arab News that through her meeting with the president of the Arab Organization for Tourism, “we have taken several important decisions in favor of the development of tourism in Tunisia, after previous negotiations and we are now seeking to activate them in the future.”
Al-Fuhaid said the tourism and travel sector is one of the most important sectors that contribute in the deployment and help reduce unemployment.
“The volume of investments of the tourism sector in the Arab countries is expected to reach to $323 billion by the end of 2020,” Al-Fuhaid said.
Al-Fuhaid also said the inter-Arab tourism before the current unrest in the region reached 45 percent and then, as a result, dropped to about 30 percent, which caused losses that reached more than $40 billion.
He also pointed to a latest study conducted by the ATO, which indicated that Arab tourists spend more than foreign tourists, as the average expenditure on a five-day trip by an Arab tourist reaches to at least $4,500.