Ongoing political turmoil in Middle East countries has cost the tourism industry about SR16.9 billion, according to Dr. Bandar Al-Fahid, president of the Arab Tourism Organization (ATO). The unrest led the ATO to meet with a Turkish group headed by Dr. Shehab Eldin Kharbut, governor of the city of Bursa, who was tasked with strengthening Arab-Turkish cooperation in tourism. “Turkey has always been keen to strengthen Arab-Turkish relations in all fields, including tourism,” Dr. Al-Fahid said after the recent meeting. “Moreover, Turkey wishes to develop and increase its tourist investments in Arab countries.” The Arab Tourism Organization has signed an agreement with Turkey to develop bilateral investments, provide all facilities to investors and establish a center in Bursa to rehabilitate Arab youths and train them to provide high-quality tourist services,” he said. Dr. Al-Fahid said Turkey has benefited from turmoil in other countries. “Tourism in Turkey has seen a 35-percent increase due to the stability and safety there, relative to other countries,” he said. Dr. Kharbut said he agreed with the Saudi side to increase investment opportunities in the tourism sector and signed an agreement to attract Arab investors and provide land for tourism projects in Turkey. At a press conference held during the visit to the Arab Tourism Organization, Dr. Kharbut said both parties agreed to form a Saudi-Turkish team and follow up with tourism plans and projects. “I met with different Saudi businessmen to find Saudi-Turkish investment projects, attract investors and learn about the Saudi businessmen's previous projects in Turkey,” he said. Dr. Al Fahid said there are no accurate statistics about Arab investments in Turkey's tourism sector, but they are higher than Turkish investments in Arab countries. He reiterated that there are guarantees for Turkish investments in Arab countries, in form of insurance policies, and Arabic investors in Turkey are given insurance policies to assure them that their investments are safe. “We seek to find a balance between Arabian and Turkish relations, whether in tourism or investment,” he said.
