New law to boost tourism [Archives:2005/834/Local News]

Yasser Mohammed Al-Mayyasi
SANA'A- April 16, The Ministry of Culture and Tourism discussed on Monday the new draft law for organizing tourist activities in Yemen and is planning to forward it the Council of Ministers.

Mr. Nabeel al-Fakeeh, Undersecretary of Ministry of Culture and Tourism, confirmed in a press conference that the new law, due to be forwarded to the Council of Ministers, was drafted after a series of meetings of those concerned with the tourism sector. The meetings included tourist associations, unions, tourist hotels, the Tourism Promotion Board and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Al-Fakeeh asserted that interest in tourism in the past concentrated only on the cultural tourism and that only met around 10-15 percent of the international demands of tourism. He considered that focusing on the cultural tourism was a shortcoming, pointing out there are various tourist areas that are worth investing in, such as rural and desert areas, islands and protected areas.

He stressed that an agreement was reached sometime earlier with sheikhs in al-Jawf Governorate with respect to holding tourist festivals to develop desert tourism.

An official report revealed progressive development of foreign tourism in Yemen over the past three years and this helped increase tourism-related revenues that make up 32 percent of the national income.

The report emphasized the number of tourists last year reached 273,000, a 41 percent increase rate from 154,000 tourists in 2003, most of whom were Arab nationals.

The increase of the number of tourists came after the tourism sector experienced deterioration, following the attacks of foreign targets such as the bomb US Cole Destroyer in Aden port in 2000, which claimed lives of 17 sailors.
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