Dakar-Islamic Tourism

The Senegalese capital, Dakar, hosted  the 4^th Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers in the Islamic Conference Organization between 28-30 March 2005.  The conference was  attended by ministers and general directors of  tourism ministries in  Islamic states. The previous three conferences were hosted by Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. All these conferences affirmed the importance of the tourism sector in energizing, economic, social and cultural relations between nations. This contributes  towards international peace and security and achieves global dialogue.

The conference was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade.  He welcomed the attendants and thanked them for visiting Senegal. He also stressed the great advantages that the public will gain from tourism world-wide and  summarized the tourism potential of Senegal:  beach tourism, the MICE and adventures which are characteristic of the Islamic countries of west Africa.

The conference ended with many recommendations such as Malaysiaأ¢â‚¬â„¢s proposals for OIC members to establish  a centre for tourism development. It

• called on solving problems which  threaten tourism by peaceful means and to ensure freedom of movement for tourists;
• welcomed the memorandum of understanding  signed between the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and the OIC; 
• called for a greater understanding between nations, based on mutual respect for the characteristics of each country.;
•  welcomed the decision to use Arabic as an official language of WTO;
•  called on the private sector in OIC countries to take part in the meetings of tourism ministers;
•  thanked the Islamic Centre for Trade Development for its efforts, in co-operation with the Islamic Bank, to hold a  tourism exhibition for  OIC countries;
• welcomed the offer by Turkey to host the 1^st Islamic tourism exhibition in Istanbul 15-18 September 2005;
• agreed to hold the 2^nd exhibition in the Lebanese capital, Beirut in 2007 and the 3^rd in Egypt 2009;
• decided to hold the exhibitions at the same time as the ministers conference;
•  thanked Saudi Arabia and Jordan for preparing the document on preserving architectural heritage in  Islamic countries;
• thanked Syria for proposing to build a website centre to enhance the  civilized image of Islamic countries
•  called for facilitating the movement of tourism journalists to encourage tourism between the members of the  OIC;
• affirmed Mecca as the cultural capital of the Islamic World;
•  condemned Israel for changing the identity of Jerusalem into a Jewish one.

Azerbaijan has agreed  to host the fifth Islamic Conference.