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Top Bahraini official to attend key tourism conference

MANAMA, January 20, 2015

A top Bahraini official is set to attend a key global forum on tourism and culture.

Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) chairperson Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa will be attending the World Conference on Tourism and Culture to be held in Cambodia from February 4 to 6, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, in their first such collaboration, the conference brings together ministers of tourism and culture and stakeholders in the fields to explore different roles and mandates to advance sustainable cultural tourism while fostering new partnerships.

Attended by King of Cambodia Preah Bat Samdech Preah Baromneath Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, the conference will address a wide range of topics, including governance models, promotion, protection and safeguarding of culture, innovation, the role of creative industries and urban regeneration as a vehicle for sustainable development in destinations worldwide.

Speakers include former Bulgarian prime minister King Simeon II, Australian Export Tourism Council chairman John King, TripAdvisor director of industry relations Helena Egan, Seabourn senior vice-president John Delaney and award-winning author and former correspondent for New York Times Elizabeth Becker.

“The conference will provide an unprecedented global platform for policymakers, experts and practitioners in tourism and culture to meet and identify the key challenges and opportunities for stronger co-operation between these highly interlinked areas,” explained Shaikha Mai.

“Tourism and culture are two sides of the same coin,” she added. “Culture is a vital tool for tourism contributing to economic growth and social development.

“Only by safeguarding culture can sustainable tourism be developed for the benefit of both local communities and international visitors as well as national economic planning and development policies.”

Also attending the conference alongside Shaikha Mai will be ARC-WH director Mounir Bouchenaki, who will be speaking about the culture and tourism scene.

Hosted by Cambodia, the two-day conference takes place in Siem Reap. - TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Bahrain | tourism | Conference | official |

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