Tourism ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will gather here on February 5-7 to talk about tourism potential among 57 member states and discuss ways to contribute better to their economies.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the three-day 10th conference of the OIC Tourism Ministers to be held here under the theme of ‘Enhancing Regional Integration through Tourism’.

During this session, OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen will present his report to the Ministers of Tourism of the OIC Member States, reports the UNB.

The report includes the implementation of the OIC Framework for Development and Cooperation in the field of tourism in terms of promoting Islamic tourism, celebratory activities of Islamic tourism capitals, promotional tourism activities, organising tourist exhibitions, establishing tourism portal, tourism capacity building programmes, tourism publications, and tourism statistics and studies.

The conference will also discuss the development of Islamic cultural and heritage tourism, the strategic roadmap for the development and promotion of Islamic tourism, and a study on branding Muslim-friendly tourism in the global market.

The participants will also review the progress in tourism infrastructure projects, such as the Regional Project for Sustainable Tourism Development in a Network of Cross Border Parks and Protected Areas in West Africa, according to the OIC headquarters.

The event is also expected to address the challenges faced by the OIC on the successful organisation of various tourism fairs and the development of a joint strategy for the successful organisation of Islamic tourism exhibitions.

The session will also select the two Islamic tourism capitals of 2019 and 2020 in line with the mechanism and the selection criteria adopted and review the annual celebration of the capital of Islamic tourism and programmes to facilitate the mass people and diverse the celebration of this year-long event.

A preparatory meeting was held recently at the Secretariat with Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister AKM Shajahan Kamal in the chair.

The minister will brief the media about the conference tomorrow (Sunday) morning at the Secretariat.