By Nawaf Al-Deqbasi
DOHA, Oct 7 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah has commended the outcomes of the second meeting of GCC tourism ministers and officials.
After the meeting, Sheikh Salman told KUNA Wednesday that the meeting was "constructive and fruitful" and during which executive mechanisms of the strategy adopted by the first constituent meeting in Kuwait were formulated to promote tourism among GCC countries.
The key topic on the meeting's agenda was the strategy regarding Gulf tourism and the formulation of executive mechanisms, he added.
The Kuwaiti minister congratulated Bahrain on being chosen by the tourism ministers as the capital of Gulf tourism for 2016. He lauded the keenness of ministers on making tourism a key part for developing cultural structure, activating Gulf economy and creating opportunities to GCC youth so as to invest in this sector.
The minister said the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Joint Program Production Institution adopted the idea to produce a short film on promoting tourism in GCC countries, noting it will focus on key tourist facilities and services in them.
He said that Kuwait would finance the production of film as the State is interested in promoting local tourism, hoping that the film would reflect Gulf tourism possibilities in order to attract visitors.
He congratulated Prince Sultan bin Salman on being chosen vice-president of international tourism association for the Middle East region.
Sheikh Salman Sabah expressed his gratitude to Qatar for hospitality, lauding efforts of Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani and Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) Issa bin Mohammed Al-Mohannadi. Meanwhile, Sheikh Jassim affirmed Qatar's interest in tourism as it is an essential factor in pushing forward the wheel of development and achieving sustainable growth.
Activating partnership between the private and public sectors, promoting tourism among GCC countries and marketing are strong tools for economic development in the Gulf states, he said.(end) nnd.sss.hm