His Majesty, King Abdullah II of Jordan,
recently received UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, at the
Royal Palace in Amman to discuss the strategic importance of the
country’s tourism sector, as well as scope for further cooperation
between Jordan and UNWTO.
During the meeting, King Abdullah and Mr. Rifai
discussed the profile of the tourism sector in the Middle East,
one of the fastest growing regions of the past few years, and
Jordan’s position as a major tourism destination within the
region. In particular, King Abdullah spoke of Jordan’s plans to
continue developing its tourism sector in order to maintain its
ranking as one of the world’s leading tourism destinations.
Talks also focused on the state of the tourism
sector following the economic crisis and Mr. Rifai presented the
King with the UNWTO Roadmap for Recovery, outlining tourism’s role
as a key driver of job creation, economic growth and development.
“Despite the extremely challenging economic
conditions of recent times, Jordan received 3.8 million
international tourist arrivals and nearly US$ 3 billion in tourism
receipts in 2009,” said Mr. Rifai. “These impressive figures can
be attributed, in no small part, to the political recognition
afforded to the sector in Jordan.”
Jordan was one of the founding members of UNWTO
in 1975 and King Abdullah expressed his desire for the country to
play an increasingly active role in the work of the organization,
in particular, his interest in hosting a session of the UNWTO
General Assembly.
See other recent news regarding:
Airlines,
Airports,
Awards,
Flights,
Codeshare,
Lounges,
First Class,
Business Class,
MICE,
GDS,
Rewards,
Miles,
Hotels,
Apartments,
Promotions,
Spas,
Yoga,
Retreat,
New Hotels,
Traffic,
Visitor Arrivals,
Cruises,
Free Deals,
Videos,
UNWTO,
Amman,
Jordan
|