WTO Conference Calls on Arab World, International Media to Forge Active Partnership

The Regional Conference on Tourism Communications for the Middle East and North Africa (TOURCOM), which finished on Wednesday in the Jordanian capital, called on international media to communicate the region´s rich culture and help improve its image to increase tolerance in an increasingly polarized world.

Participants from more than 20 countries in the Arab world and beyond also urged National Tourism Administrations and the private sector to enhance their knowledge and increase cooperation with the media, especially in the framework of crisis communications, image building and cross-cultural communications.

Several speakers representing Middle Eastern destinations, including the Ministers of Tourism of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia made it clear that the tourism industry is committed to promoting peace and stability in the region.

But they recognized that this message must be also clearly stated and promoted among the Arab media. Importance of the news channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabia was mentioned in this context, while CNN International, which was the main media partner of TOURCOM, was praised for their support of the cultural issues and the region´s tourism.

National Tourism Administrations should be proactive, transparent and credible in their communications, especially in the time of crises, so as to create confidence and enable media´s role as messengers and "pioneer tourists", the conclusions of the conference stated.

Crisis has become a fact of life for the tourism industry, so it is essential that destinations prepare a structure and a strategy for responding to a crisis and for recovering from it, participants agreed.

Countries must also carefully monitor travel advisories and work closer with the local embassies to make sure that advisories are not in place on moment more than necessary.

The conference was organized by the World Tourism Organization in cooperation with the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and it was held ahead of the meeting of the WTO Commission for the Middle East and North Africa under auspices of Minister Dr. Alia Hatough-Bouran.

Participants included representatives from most of the Arab countries, including Iraq, and the Palestinian Authority. During the conference, Argentina invited the WTO to organize a similar event for the Americas next April. The next TOURCOM conference (for Europe) is scheduled to take place in Riga, Latvia, on 12 to 13 October.