Gulf Air, a lead sponsor of key tourism meet

DUBAI — Gulf Air announced that the airline is a lead sponsor of Oman's first international conference on BEST: Built Environments for Sustainable Tourism.

By A Staff Reporter

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Published: Wed 5 Jan 2005, 5:35 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 7:35 PM

Organised by the Ministry of Tourism Oman under the auspices of the World Tourism Organisation and Unesco, the event will take place from 5 to 8 February 2005 at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel, Muscat.

In the last few weeks, Gulf Air has demonstrated its full commitment to tourism development in its three owner states by supporting three major tourism initiatives — Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2005 (Kingdom of Bahrain), the Al Ain Aerobatics Show 2005 (Abu Dhabi) and now the BEST conference (Oman).

John Butler, Vice President, Marketing and Sales at Gulf Air, said: "The promotion of the region, and specifically that of our owner states, remains high on our agenda. The tourism and recreation industry is increasingly concerned about its sustainability and in Oman, where the industry has grown dramatically over the last decade; such concerns are expanding in importance, because of the contribution the industry makes to the state's economy as a whole."

"The industry relies extensively on Oman's natural and cultural heritage, and it is therefore important to protect and manage this asset to ensure that tourism is indeed sustainable. The Ministry's initiative in staging this conference is to be applauded, and Gulf Air offers its full support to this and all future enterprises," he concluded.

"Gulf Air has an important role to play in all aspects of tourism. We are investing substantial sums in new programmes. We will also work closely with all the relevant government departments and tourism authorities to ensure their long term sustainability," said Butler.

Among the objectives of the four-day conference is to identify principles, guidelines and specific criteria that can be applied to the design of resorts, hotels and other tourism infrastructure in order to guarantee the authenticity of the tourism and its long-term sustainability, besides maintaining the distinctive character of cities, vernacular architecture and contributing to making the tourism industry in Oman a sustainable activity.


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