Duties Versus Challenges of Tourism [Archives:1999/39/Business & Economy]

Ismail Al-Ghabiry,
Yemen Times
It is a common held belief that tourism has become a universal trade business all over the world. It is a phenomenon that has so many multidimensional advantages. On the human relations’ level, it enhances and strengthens relations between people as it makes them aquatinted with different conventions, traditions, cultures, as well as arts. It is also a way to start new relations based on love as well as peace for it creates a nice atmosphere for making the long-waited dream of peace among the nations.
On the level of living, a number of advantages could also be perceived for it makes better conditions of life in different districts and support the national economy. It provides a great number of job opportunities for many people. This means developing the income of Yemeni families, limiting unemployment, encouraging the businessmen to invest in the country as well as attracting modern technology to the country through foreign companies.
There are other merits and benefits that will best felt by the people. The Yemen of today is in a bad need of the profits of tourism on all levels either on the level of national economy or improving the ways of life or that of the environment and keeping it clean. All this makes lots of duties, responsibility as well as challenges on the side of the government and its concerned constituents. It requires the government to sincerely and positively move towards establishing an effective policy whose fruits will be yield in the near future. It should also exert efforts to avoid any anticipated negative effects or that ones faced in its way of constructing and developing tourism industry in Yemen. The negative effects may result from different reasons such as the low-level of planning and absence of the government supervision.
If we cast a look over the countries that has got a head of Yemen in the tourism drive, we will see the great profits countries have made from tourism. Their economies have actually flourished and become very prosperous.
Yemen is a fertile and rich country by its status as well as tourist resources. What it only lacks is the strong belief and commitment in the principles of tourism. I believe that in order to make our tourism drive become prosperous, we have to make a head positive progress in three dimensions, that can be summarized in the following:
The Executive Institution:
(a) Tourism requires as a first step exerting great efforts attempted by skilled and qualified personalities. Therefore, all the concerned ministries should participate in this labor to make easy all the obstacles and difficulties faced so that we will be able to push the helm of tourism a head. It is observed as important to establish the Supreme Council of Tourism chaired by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Ministry of Culture as a Vice President. The Ministries concerned have to participate actively in tourism as members in the council so as to carry out the rules and decisions as effective and serious as possible.
(b) Each job has its own tools and the tools of tourism are the qualified staff that use science in administrating things in a skilled way. Therefore, it is a priority to constitute and make available an organized specific and accurate framework for the General Tourist Authority to make a correct practice and establish a real tourism based upon modern science. A qualified executive apparatus has also to be established. The staff should also master different languages for mastering these languages is the key factor for flourishing tourism industry. Knowing languages is also important for understanding other people, marketing, making researches and studies, participating in international symposia and conferences, in corresponding, making contracts with foreign companies, etc.
(c) A modern administration has to be established based upon science and new techniques, able to deal and interact with the workers for the advancement and development of works. The administration has also to follow the following principles:
1- Qualifications as well as competency should be the main standard in evaluating and selecting all workers in all levels, to put the right person in the right place.
2- Adherence to rules of the administration is a must that should be followed by all equally. However, this should not restrict workers to show as well as manifest their merits and talents.
3- Applying “punishment and reward system” that should be all-inclusive to all levels. 
4- Choosing the specialized qualifications and higher levels.
5- Reconsidering the financial as well as administrative organization.
6- Applying observation and evaluating performance.
7- Making specific the relations between the centers and the branches so as not to mingle duties.
8- Making an effective observing program that ensures appealing services to tourists by tourists companies.
(d) Making information centers that apply the technical apparatus and supplies the modern tourist information either local or foreign as to provide planners and decision makers with good materials.
The Internal Dimension
(1) Completing the main structure.
(2) A Comprehensive field survey should conducted to locate tourist places and those that need maintenance and attention.
(3) Issuing a tourist legislation.
(4) Specifying the financing sources whether it is from the budget of the government or from something else.
(5) Applying the procedures of modern scientific studies as a static principle.
(6) Planning tourism drive that is incorporated with general public objectives.
(7) Specifying polices and aims of the whole tourist activity in the country and instructing the private sector to follow these polices.
(8) protecting environment
(9) Activating local tourism
(10) Intensive care should be given to the tourist production.
(11) Making use of other countries experiences to establish principles and techniques and also to solve obstacles and difficulties faced in our tourism movement.
(12) putting an end to the random investment in the tourist field.
(13) Arranging programs to raise awareness of all participating factors in tourism movement to enhanced as well as maintain the desired behavior.
(14) Realizing the human capacity of tourist positions and the possibility of distributing tourists to these places.
(15) Efforts should be made to construct clean and neat three stars hotels and to make available all that required by tourists.
(16) Making arrangements to get rid of swage.
(17) Specializing in tourist resorts. Yemen should make big efforts to specialize and train a staff in this field so as to meet the latest in technology and science. There should be a trend to exploit the natural as well as the cultural and traditional resources so as to attract the attention of foreigners to Yemen.
Another point that should be taken into consideration is that tourists will never cherish the idea of coming to Yemen unless they find that they will be given the attention and care needed. So it is advisable to supply these places with all that please and satisfy tourists.
The Exterior Dimension:
It is important that we define the market so as to make strong relations with its people . Most of the tourists that come to our country are from Europe so it is important that we enhance strong bilateral relations with all these countries. However, we should not close doors at the face of other countries’ tourists.
Popularization
After specifying the resorts and market we come to popularization. We hereby propose the following:
The media, tourist maps, tourist cards, publishing leaflets, tourist magazines, TV, radio, circulars, photos, etc are all means of popularization. A trend should be made to arrange and hold tourist exhibitions inside as well as outside Yemen. Competitive tourist programs should be carefully planned. Establishing a tourist office abroad so as to be aware of the problems of tourism in Yemen and to be a point of contact between outside as well as inside Yemen.
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