Abu Dhabi, October 11, 2016 - The UAE successfully took part in a special meeting for GCC tourism undersecretaries held today in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The meeting was held as part of the preparations for the upcoming 3rd GCC Tourism Ministers Meeting, which will be held this Wednesday, October 12, 2016. 

The UAE delegation was headed by H.E. Mohammed Khamis Al Muhairi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Economy, and was joined by Saeed Al Samahi, Director General, FTAA; and Abdullah Al Hammadi, director at the Ministry of Economy.

During the meeting, the delegates discussed key points from the minutes of its previous meeting--strongly focused on the development of the GCC region's tourism industry, the further promotion of joint tourism work among GCC countries and the continuation of efforts to achieve common strategic goals and objectives in support of enhancing and improving national tourist attractions of respective member countries. 

H.E. Al Muhairi shared that tourism in the GCC region has witnessed a positive upward shift in the last few years and has resulted in the region's tourism segment's ability to contribute significantly to the economies of countries in the GCC, supplementing contributions that has helped in promoting economic diversity. 

The Undersecretary revealed that the recommendations produced in the recent meeting complements the move to further enhance joint cooperation among GCC countries. He shared that all member states have committed to work closely together to promote mutual tourism and as a result, widen the circle of attention for tourism attractions in the region. 

H.E. Al Muhairi also took part in a special executive vision meeting of the GCC's joint tourism cooperation committee. held for the first time, the session was based on a proposal made by the UAE to create a memorandum covering the regulation of tourism cooperation in the GCC region. In the meeting, discussions were made on the preparation of a comprehensive vision for the mutual tourism cooperation--including its set strategic goals, objectives and action plan to be implemented to help achieve its vision.