by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment, Muslim World, Overseas
Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Crafts and Social Economy, Mohammed.
Rabat : With a turnover of MAD 115 billion in 2016, tourism contributed 7 percent of the national GDP and helped create nearly 2.5 million direct and indirect jobs in Morocco, said Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Crafts and Social Economy Mohammed Sajid.
Speaking in the governing council on Thursday in Rabat, Sajid noted that the sector recorded MAD 64.2 million in foreign exchange earnings, with the number of tourists increasing from 9.3 million to 10.3 million between 2010 and 2016.
The minister also noted that the occupancy rate of hotels has scarcely exceeded 40 percent, which is one of the major challenges facing the sector.
Sajid also stressed the importance of tourism as a horizontal sector requiring the convergence of public policies and the involvement of all sectors to make it a priority, Morocco World News reported.
He recalled the profound changes that are taking place in the sector through technological and numerical developments, as well as geostrategic and political changes in the surrounding region.
In addition, he highlighted the role of tourism in economic development, as the second largest contributor to national GDP. For 2017, Ouarzazate recorded the best national performance for overnights, with a 41 percent increase in the number of tourists compared with the same period in 2016, according to the provincial tourism office.
The month of July saw major growth, with a 77 percent increase in arrivals and a 75 percent overnight stays compared to 2016.
The total number of tourists who visited the region rose from 109,474 for the first seven months of 2016 to 154,677 for the same period of 2017, up by 41 percent.
—SM/IINA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Markets, News, Politics
By Milinda Ghosh Roy,
Kolkata : In a bid to showcase internationally the city’s rich heritage and passion for football, the West Bengal government has come up with a bouquet of initiatives, from guided tours to screening short documentaries, during the U-17 World Cup in which 24 countries are participating.
The eastern metropolis, a key host venue of the six-venue tourney across India, is slated to hold 10 games, including the October 28 final at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan — also called Salt Lake Stadium. The FIFA headquarters for the competition has also been set up here, with 60 delegates from the globe’s apex soccer body camping in the city.
Besides, Kolkata has been adjudged the referee hub and the training centre for rookie referees.
As the city gears up for the country’s biggest football extravaganza, with four foreign teams arriving here with a few thousand of their supporters, the state government is keen to provide a taste of Kolkata to the guests from abroad.
The state Information and Cultural Affairs Department is planning to screen documentaries, two to five minutes long, on various aspects of Kolkata and its cultural heritage in between the matches and during the half-time intervals in the stadium.
The first two matches in the city are scheduled for October 8.
“We plan to run short documentaries on our city on the giant screens available in the stadium in between the matches or during the half-time intervals. The length of these films will be decided after discussing with the FIFA officials,” Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs Indranil Sen told IANS.
“Kolkata has a wonderful cultural heritage and its love for football is eternal. These snippets and documentaries would help our foreign guests get acquainted with the city in a better way,” he said.
With England, Chile, Mexico, Iraq, Japan and New Caledonia playing in Kolkata, the state tourism department has taken various initiatives to promote tourism in and around the city before the foreign and delegates.
The FIFA tournament is being highlighted as a major event happening in the state on the West Bengal Tourism Department’s website, and leaflets and advertisements of Bengal tourism have been circulated among the major city hotels that would become the temporary address of the football fans from abroad.
According to tourism officials, the department has engaged a number of tour guides — christened “atithi bandhus” — who would take the tourists to iconic places in the city like College street, Victoria Memorial, Kalighat temple and the house of Mother Teresa.
Tourism and hospitality students from the city have been chosen as atithi bandhus and given a guided tour of the city alongside the necessary training in soft skills to attend to the foreign guests interested in avaiing their services.
“The atithi bandhu is a new concept. We have chosen young boys and girls from tourism and hospitality institutes and held an orientation programme for them,” Tourism Secretary Atri Bhattacharya told IANS.
“The students were trained in soft skills, foreign languages and culture. Their contact details have been updated on the Tourism Department’s website so that the people interested in engaging them can directly get in touch with them,” he added.
The Tourism Department is also in discussions with various consulates to arrange tours for the players and officials staying in the city for the tournament.
“So many players, coaches, officials would be coming here during the tournament. It is an honour for the state to have organised such an event. We are in discussions with various consulates so that some tours of Kolkata and its surrounding areas can be arranged for them,” Tourism Minister Gautam Deb told IANS.
He said the department is also planning online and offline advertisements to promote the diverse tourist destinations around the state.
Youngsters who have registered themselves as atithi bandhus are equally excited about the opportunity.
“It is not every day you get a chance to interact with so many people from other countries. I love my city and it is a great opportunity to introduce our guests to our wonderful City of Joy,” said Sreya Biswas, a tourism student at a Kolkata college who is looking forward to being an atithi bandhu.
(Milinda Ghosh Roy can be contacted at milinda.g@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Narendra Modi
Haridwar : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the modern concept of circuit tourism existed in ancient India by way of spiritual journeys as he inaugurated the Umiya Dham Ashram for thousands of pilgrims visiting Haridwar.
Dedicating the ashram to devotees, Modi said: “The idea of a yatra existed as an integral part of our culture. Through a yatra, we get acquainted with various parts of the country we may never have seen otherwise. The concept of circuit tourism existed in our culture thousands of years ago in the form of a spiritual tradition.”
Modi said the ashram would benefit several pilgrims visiting Haridwar and lauded the work being carried out by the devotees of Maa Umiya.
Stating that spiritual institutions in India had always been the centres of social reform, the Prime Minister appealed to all devotees of the deity to become volunteers of cleanliness and add strength to the Swachh Bharat Mission.
“I appeal to all devotees of Maa Umiya, to become Swachhagrahis for the Swachh Bharat Mission.”
He said the work done by the Maa Umiya devotees has touched the lives of several people and mentioned how they were involved in spreading awareness on gender equality.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Ouarzazate City in Morocco
Ouarzazate City : Ouarzazate City in Morocco has recorded the best national performance for overnight stays in the first seven months of 2017, with a 41 percent increase in the number of tourists compared to the same period in 2016, according to the provincial tourism office.
The month of July saw major growth, with a 77 percent increase in arrivals and a 75 percent overnight stays compared to 2016.
The total number of tourists who visited the region rose from 109,474 for the first seven months of 2016 to 154,677 for the same period of 2017, thus increasing by 41 percent, Morocco World News reported.
According to figures from the provincial tourism office of Ouarzazate, the increase is the result of growth in the number of arrivals of residents, which reached 34,199 during this period and 27,021 in 2016, an increase of 27 percent.
The number of non-resident tourists increased more than the number of residents, rising by 43 percent, from 82,453 in 2016 to 120,478 in 2017.
This destination received 18,103 French visitors during the first seven months of 2017 versus 14,731 for the same period in 2016, an increase of 23 percent, followed by Spanish tourists, whose number rose from 8,835 in 2016 to 14,731 in 2017, an increase of 67 percent.
The best performance was observed for the Asian tourists. The number of Japanese tourists increased from 5,214 in 2016 to 8,803 in 2017, an increase of 69 percent, while the Chinese market recorded a significant increase in 12,070 visitors.
Tourism accommodation establishments in the region recorded that Ouarzazate ranked first regarding growth at the national level (+41 percent).
The number of overnight stays increased from 1696,108 to 233,945 respectively for the first seven of 2016 and 2017. The increase in overnight stays was higher for non-residents, rising from 117,788 in 2016 to 180,664 in 2017, an increase of 53 percent, while the increase in overnight stays by residents was 10 percent, as the number of domestic tourists has increased from 48,320 in 2016 to 53,281 in 2017.
Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate is one of the world’s largest film studios. Many well-known historical movies and television shows were shot in Ouarzazate, including “Game of Thrones” and “Gladiator.”
—SM/IINA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise, World
Brussels : The European Union (EU) vowed to further promote its tourism strategy on Wednesday, as the world’s first destination is faced with competition from other emerging destinations and may constantly lose its share of global tourists.
The EU hosted to more than half the world’s tourists in 1990s but the figure dropped to 42 per cent and is set to fall further to 30 per cent by 2030, Xinhua quoted the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani as saying.
EU data showed that tourism industry accounted for some 10 per cent of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP).
For the EU, the labor-intensive tourism industry is expected to help address its almost double-digit jobless rate. According to the World Tourism and Travel Council, more than 5 million new jobs linked to tourism may be created in the EU over the next 10 years while 20 per cent of these jobs go to young people under age 25.
Tourism hence represents a main avenue to combat youth unemployment, especially in several southern regions where one out of two youths was unemployed, the president noted.
Tajani pledged to develop a strategy to prepare the bloc for competition from emerging rivals and challenges posted by a digital era in which new market players, such as Google, Airbnb and Uber, on course to shape tourism industry.
The EU as well pinned its hope on Asia to inject momentum in tourism. Data quoted by Tajani showed that the number of international tourists was set to double, from 1.1 billion to more than 2 billion, between now and 2030, while half of these tourists will come from Asia.
“A Chinese tourist visited 4 or 5 EU member states on average,” he said.
“The traveler first chooses the continent to go, so the competitors to be beaten are called America, Asia, Caribbean or Pacific.”
The year of 2018 marks the year of EU-China tourism, which would be launched in Venice on January 19. Tajani said that the EU needed good chefs, digital experts, cultural mediators and professional waiters for Chinese visitors.
As the world’s leading tourism market, 135 million Chinese visitors traveled abroad in 2016 and spent $261 billion experiencing tourist destinations. It is estimated, in the coming five years, China’s outbound visitors will reach 700 million providing even greater opportunities for shared development and prosperity, according to China’s Ambassador to the EU, Yang Yanyi.
Echoing Tajani, Yang said tourism is an enormous force for good in the world and plays a crucial role in fostering bonds of friendship between peoples.
“In China we believe that he or she who excels reads as many as ten thousand books and travels as far as ten thousand miles,” Yang told the audience.
“In its drive to achieve creative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, China has made tourism a strategic pillar and a major driver of economic transformation and upgrading,” the Ambassador said.
The China-EU Tourism Year promises to maximise the full potential of one of the most important relationships in the world, not only from a tourism perspective, but across the board, economically, socially and academically, Yang added.
—IANS
