Doha, March 07 (QNA) – Officials and experts called for work to support tourism destinations in the least developed countries (LDCs) in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development and to provide more job and training opportunities to improve the economic conditions in those countries.
The officials and experts participating in the Private Sector Forum Thematic Session 5: Sustainable Tourism on the sideline of Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), argued the lack of qualified human resources and the poor infrastructure are among the most biggest challenges facing the tourism sector in many LDCs, in addition to the insufficient energy sources such as electricity and political instability at times.
They stressed the great importance of the development potential provided by sustainable tourism to the least developed countries, and its important role in achieving economic growth and the development of local communities in these countries, as well as its contributions to preserving the environment and biological diversity and promoting dialogue between different cultures.
They pointed out that many countries have left the list of LDCs thanks to tourism and its impact on the development of local communities, as the vast majority of LDCs depend on tourism to achieve economic growth.
For his part, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, TUI Care Foundation concerned with tourism development, Nico Visser, stressed the need to seek support for tourism destinations in order to achieve the sustainable development goals of the LDCs, by financing the fields of education, environmental preservation, entrepreneurship and promoting intercultural dialogue to empower young people especially in these countries.
He added, during his intervention in the session, that the World Tourism Organization launched the Tourism Fund for Development, as this fund will allocate USD 10 million to the LDCs until the year 2030, in addition to targeting tourist destinations in a number of countries, indicating that sustainable tourism is the main catalyst for the LDCs, as proven by the countries that left the list of these countries thanks to tourism.
In turn, Chief Executive Officer of Azalai Hotels chain, Mossadeck Bally, said the stereotypical image of tourism risks in Africa is not much related to reality, as there are many projects that have been implemented in various fields, explaining that the most prominent challenges facing the tourism sector in Africa are lack of qualified human resources, poor infrastructure and insufficient energy sources, in addition to political instability at times.
Bally pointed out that although there are many challenges, it is necessary to show resilience and get armed with optimism and ambition, because opportunities always outweigh the challenges, stressing the high returns on tourism investments in Africa, and the impact of this sector on increasing employment and training opportunities, and advancing sustainable development. (QNA)
Source: Qatar News Agency