Damascus, (SANA) – Minister of Tourism Saadallah Agha al-Qalaa discussed on Wednesday with Regional Director of the World Tourism Organization Omar Abulghaffar the future of cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and the Organization in tourist planning, marketing and promotion.

Agha al-Qalaa affirmed the importance of continuing cooperation between the Organization and member countries in order to unify standards, focus on planning studies, and benefiting from local and international experience in developing tourism regions.

He pointed out that his Ministry and the Organization implemented a program with a  set time limit that stipulates for cooperation with experts and consultants to carry out Syria's proposed tourism planning project. He also underlined Syria's preparations for the upcoming Islamic Countries Tourism Ministers Conference in June.

For his part, Abdulghaffar affirmed the importance of the recent developments in the Syrian tourism sector which placed Syria in the list of international tourist attractions.

He expressed the Organization's readiness to execute cooperation programs in tourist planning by sending experts and technicians to visit Syria and evaluate steps taken in this regard in order to complete them according to the requirements of the international tourism markets.

H. Sabbagh / Mazen