The Third D-8 Ministerial and Fourth Senior Officials Meetings on Tourism held in Bhurban on August 4-5. The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) was the leading institution in hosting both the meetings in cooperation with the D-8 Secretariat. Ministers responsible for tourism, D-8 Ambassadors in Islamabad, Senior Officials from D-8 Member States as well as key representatives from private sector of Pakistan participated in the Meetings.  They engaged in fruitful discussions on advancing tourism cooperation among D-8 Member States. Awn Chaudry, the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Tourism and Sports of Pakistan and the Chairman of the PTDC, chaired the Ministerial session.

In his welcome remarks, Awn Chaudry briefed the meeting on Pakistan’s efforts to promote its tourism.  He emphasized the crucial role of the tourism sector in the sustainable development and economic growth of the Member States.  He also encouraged the Member States to further strengthen their existing cooperation in the tourism sector. Bangladesh Recalled the proposition of devising thematic tourism guidelines such as ecotourism, riverine tourism, wildlife tourism. Mentionable Bangladesh is working on devising the thematic guidelines in coordination with different agencies.  Also Stressed the need of D8 member states to organize collaborative efforts in this regard. The Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities underscored that the Middle East region witnessed strong performance during the past months, and succeeded in restoring pre-pandemic numbers in the first quarter of this year, according to reports issued by the UNWTO.  He also highlighted his country’s efforts to promote tourism industry which led to a record in the Egyptian tourism history with more than 7 million tourists in the first half of 2023, and a perspective of an annual growth between 25-30% in the coming 5 years. 

 He praised the new initiatives proposed by the Secretariat to enhance cooperation among D8 countries and expressed Egypt’s willingness to share its experiences in the field of management and training in the tourism sector. Sandiaga Salahudin Uno, Minister for Tourism and Creative Industry of Indonesia encouraged the D-8 countries to collaborate and promote quality, inclusive, and sustainable tourism that benefits local communities and protect the environment. Syed Ezzatollah Zarghami, Minister for Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stated that the holy Qur'an, in its different verses, advises us to travel to other lands in order to reach a better understanding of the world around, observe the way of living in the other states and learn lessons from other lives.  In other words, the soul of these verses is focusing on paying special attention to human intangible heritage. In fact, this dimension of tourism is so valuable that it can foster an effective platform for promoting cultural exchanges, strengthening solidarity and creating peace among all nations. The rise of Islamophobia has subjected Muslims to racial discrimination, negative stereotyping and stigmatization. 

As a result, Muslims have touched the feeling of insecurity in their daily lives and face denial of their basic human rights. Meantime, tourism is the most effective way to remove this fake negative image by introducing the real nature of Islamic countries. He also mentioned that mechanism of selecting and declaring D-8 tourism city annually can provide a unique opportunity for the member states to introduce and brand their tourism destinations through a healthy competition. Therefore, the Honourable Minister suggested D-8 Secretariat to develop and implement this mechanism.

Malaysia stated that it looks forward to advancing regional and international cooperation in tourism by continuing to work closely with organisations such as UNWTO, APEC, IORA and D-8 and strongly recommends continued engagement and sharing of knowledge among members, particularly in the areas of digitalisation, technology adoption and sustainable tourism investments, as well as emerging niche areas of growth such as Muslim Friendly Tourism, for the industry to emerge stronger and more resilient to future disruptions.

Nigeria stated that it remains committed to objectives set out by the Crescent Moon Initiative and the Comprehensive Tourism Strategy, both serving as frameworks for international cooperation in the tourism industry.  In line with the initiative of the D-8 designated Airport in each member state for the promotion of people-to-people and business to business contacts as well as tourism and travel facilitation among member states, the Nigerian Government has conceived the idea of building an aerotropolis in the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja which will showcase Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and tourism potential while boosting businesses and investment. Nadir Alparslan, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye highlighted Türkiye's strategic roadmap in sustainable tourism, as the very first country in the world launching a sustainable tourism program at national level. 

Deputy Minister also addressed the need for close cooperation between public and private sectors as key to success and expressed the readiness of his Ministry and affiliated institutions, including TİKA and Yunus Emre Institutes, for joint projects within D-8 framework. Ambassador Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, the D-8 Secretary-General, presented the progress of the D-8’s tourism cooperation and recalled the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on various aspects, particularly on tourism cooperation. 

He also underscored the importance of implementing the D-8 Comprehensive Strategy on Tourism Cooperation and the Crescent Moon Initiative, which the D-8 ministers responsible for tourism adopted in their Second meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 2019. He emphasized the novelty of those initiatives in turning the challenges posed by the pandemic into opportunities. Underlining that tourism is one of the D-8’s priority areas, the D-8 Secretary-General elaborated further on tourism’s significance for D-8 Member States' economic recovery.  He provided an overview of the Secretariat's efforts at promoting tourism cooperation, such as establishing collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and other international and regional organizations.

The D-8 Secretary-General also lauded the idea of D-8 Designated Airports by the D-8 Member States as a means to promote people-to-people and business-to-business interactions and facilitate tourism and travel among all Member States. The D-8 Secretary-General requested the Ministers to provide policy guidelines to support the organization’s objective in the tourism sector. He suggested tangible programs, such as exchange of information, ideas, and best practices and increasing member-state cross-border investments to develop the tourism sector. The ultimate goal, he added, is to create world-class tourist destinations in all of the D-8 Member States.

The Ministerial Meeting also deliberated and subsequently adopted the Islamabad Declaration on Tourism Cooperation 2023. The Declaration delineates member states’ commitments and policy guides to implement the D-8 Comprehensive Strategy on Tourism and Crescent Moon Initiative.  The Declaration also guides an adequate adaptation to climate change to strengthen the Member States’ resilience against global warming and its repercussions. The Ministers and Heads of Delegation also agreed to convene their 4th Meeting, in which a Senior Officials’ Meeting will precede, at a time and date to be conveyed through diplomatic channels. 

The Meeting concluded with the adoption of its Report and the closing remarks of the Chairman of the Meeting and the D-8 Secretary-General. The Ministers and Heads of Delegation attending the Third D-8 Ministerial Meeting on Tourism expressed their heartfelt appreciation for the warm hospitality and excellent arrangements made by the Government of Pakistan, especially  Awn Chaudhry, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Tourism and Sports, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)