BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Islamic values and culture can assist in providing the best services to visitors although the country’s tourism industry is still young and needs more products to offer to tourists as a way of diversifying the economy. The Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism, Yang Berhormat Dato Paduka Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong, says safety, cleanliness, comfort, acceptance, mutual respect and hospitality are required in serving tourists, ©BRUDIRECT.COM reported.
Yang Berhormat Dato Paduka Awang Haji Ali believes that Islamic values and culture can fulfil those requirements. The Minister was officiating the opening the Regional Seminar on Contribution of Islamic Culture and Its Impact on the Asian Tourism Market yesterday morning at The International Rizqun Hotel in Gadong.
The two-day seminar is attended by a hundred participants from member countries under the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia.
Among its objectives is to provide better understanding of the huge potential of the emerging market for Islamic Tourism, especially in and out of Asia. It also aims to develop policy recommendations to enhance facilitation, accessibility to, from and within the Islamic world and the provision of facilities and services for the development of Islamic tourism resources.
The UNWTO seminar is held in collaboration with the Department of Tourism Development, Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism.
Also present was Awang Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid, the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism.