Rabat - His Excellency Eng. Abdenbi Manar, Director General of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, participated in the works of the Arab Ministerial Council of Tourism emergency session on the Corona Virus pandemic (COVID-19), which was held on Wednesday 17 June via the network and headed by His Excellency Mr. Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib, Minister of Tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. All of the Honorable Arab Ministers of Tourism have brought to the fore in their statements the negative effects caused by this pandemic on all economic sectors, especially the tourism and travel sector in the Arab world.
Their Excellences also discussed actions and measures undertaken on the level of Arab countries in order to overcome the effects of this plight. They also praised the efforts made by the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, the Arab Organization for Tourism and the Arab Air Transport Association, within the framework of the Crisis Management Team, which was established to look into a series of measures and practical plans that would support the recovery of this sector in terms of sustainable development and encourage Arab governments to adopt them once the crisis is over.
His Excellency the Director General of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization assured in his statement on this occasion, that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, tourism has emerged as one of the world´s major economies, and the development of air transport, being a key component in the tourism industry, has played a major role in this.
His Excellency mentioned ACAO´s achievements in the framework of coordinating efforts between Arab countries and joint Arab action, since the beginning of the crisis namely the adoption of a set of measures and procedures aimed to be extended to Arab member states of the organization, with a view to implement them to ensure the fight against the virus outbreak, while safeguarding the resurgence and recovery of the sector. Wherein the top priority was to enhance cooperation between Arab countries to implement joint measures to prevent the spread of the virus within them, taking into account the sensitivity of this period and the ongoing and continuous need for transportation of major products like foodstuffs, medical supplies and equipment, personal protective equipment as well as other products necessary to operate sensitive supply chains, not to mention evacuation flights.
At the end of the emergency session, the Arab Tourism Council praised the efforts expended by Arab countries to contain the spread of the virus, give priority to the health of their citizens, and impose a number of measures and policies meant to accelerate recovery from the negative effects on their tourism sector facilities.
