Tourism industry in Yemen [Archives:2002/27/Culture]

YEMEN TIMES STAFF
TAIZ BRANCH
Establishing a separate Ministry for Tourism, increasing the role of the Tourism Promotional Board and running promotional films on television are all part of the governments latest attempt to revive tourism. Yet these procedures will most likely fail to revive a tourist industry which has been left decidedly moribund in the wake, first of a wave of kidnapping incidents, and then by the September 11 terroist attacks in the US which has in turn negatively affected the tourism industry in Yemen.
Yemen has long deserved to become one of the worlds top tourist attractions. However much remains to be done to establish either a tourist-friendly infrastructure or a defac to tourism industry.
To shed some light on the future of tourism in Yemen, Mr. Sadiq Salah, the Head of Taiz Tourism Office agreed to talk exclusively to the Yemen Times about Tourist and particularly how he hopes to encourage tourism in Taiz.
Q: What are the tourist attractions in Taiz and how can we make use of them?
A: Yemen is considered the origin and the cradle of ancient civilizations and together with its topographic and climatic variety, and the cheerful nature of its people, it cannot fail but to excite the imagination of any visitor. Taiz, in many ways, represents all Yemen since contains most of the climatic and geographic wonders that entice tourists to our country. Especially since its climate remains mild throughout the year. Moreover Taiz has many tourist attractions such as historical towns, forts, bustling markets, beautiful beaches, oases, high lands, green terraces, plains and rare birds and trees. We can make use of all that if we make developing tourism a priority, building a complete infrastructure, and more investments in tourism based resources.
Q: What are the reasons behind the tourism decline in Yemen? and how can we gain the trust of foreign tourists?
A: There are many reasons but the most obvious is kidnapping, however the government has acted forcefully to prevent this phenomenon which is absolutely at odds with the deep rooted traditions and customs of Yemen.
Q: Tourism Industry – how to start?
A: We should begin by acknowledging that tourism is key economic activity and that a tourism industry demands financial investments as would any other industrial sectors. Providing goods and services for tourists would also nuture local business and manufacturing expertise which Yemen might one day be able to use to increase exports.
Q: What is your assessment to the domestic tourist industry?
A: The importance of this sector lies in integrating the tourism industry with a range of other activities. In fact our most hotels still depending only on the local tourism while the biggest and most luxurious have sufferd most from the decline in international tourists.
Q: What are the difficulties faced by tourist offices?
A: There is a general lack of understanding of tourist-related affairs and while the lack of the qualified staff is a problem we hope to avoid that through increasing training courses for tourist employees.
Q: What are your future plans to revive tourism in Taiz?
A: As we know, tourism is the future industry; a human contact between nations and civilizations; it is an industry without chimneys. The tourist office plans to increase our attractiveness to the world markets as part of a campaign to show the tourism potential of Yemen and we hope that Taiz can play a significant role in this respect.


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