Sharjah 24: Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, launched the activities of the Sharjah International Forum for Tourism and Travel 2021, held at Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre, organised by Sharjah Tourism.

During the opening ceremony, Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises, and Chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council, delivered a speech in which he stressed that the UAE tourism sector is preparing for a new phase of progress that keeps pace with countries around the world to further enhance innovations in tourism.

Belhoul explained that “smart” tourism is one of the main drives of this growth, which the UAE has paved the way for through a strong digital infrastructure. The country is currently targeting training 100,000 programmers through the "National Programme for Coders", honing their skills and supporting them to establish their businesses in the UAE, which supports tourism development.

Belhoul highlighted the UAE's strategy to advance tourism, which is based on three axes which includes developing domestic tourism, developing global tourism, and developing the human factor and attracting more citizens to work in the tourism sector.

Khalid Jassim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Tourism, stressed that the tourism sector has a huge impact on a global scale, as it constitutes 10.4% of the global economy. 

Al Midfa explained that the tourism sector, for the past two years, has been searching for effective ways to get back from the pandemic. “We have succeeded in adopting and implementing many of them, especially in the tourism sector,” said Al Midfa.

Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi honoured the speakers and participants in the forum.

The SITTF 2021 discusses the alters of the global tourism sector and the future plans for tourism in Sharjah along with its regions with the contribution of the most global prominent specialists in the field of tourism.

The opening ceremony was attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Chairman of Department of Statistics and Community Development in Sharjah (DSCD), Sheikh Faisal bin Saud Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Airport Authority, Sheikh Salem bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Tourism, and several senior officials in the tourism sector.