Within the framework of the Regional Project on “Sustainable Tourism Development in a Network of Cross-Border Park and Protected Areas in West Africa” and SESRIC’s Tourism Capacity Building Programme (Tourism-CaB), the Centre and the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Handicraft of the Republic of Guinea, organised a Training Webinar on “Managing and Marketing Protected Areas” on 21-22 February 2022 through an online video conferencing platform.

The training webinar was provided by competent experts and academicians from Bangladesh, Malaysia, Türkiye, and SESRIC for the benefit of 30 participants from the Ministries and relevant national institutions in charge of tourism in 10 OIC Member Countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

The training webinar aimed at strengthening the technical human capacities of participants on managing and marketing protected areas which will contribute to achieving the project’s objectives that include, among others, reinforcing the capacities of the managers and local staff as well as Tourism Authorities in the area of management and marketing protected areas and building their resilience to face the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The training webinar started with the statement of His Excellency Mr. Alpha SOUMAH, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Handicraft of the Republic of Guinea, who welcomed the timely organisation of this training activity and commended the exerted efforts by SESRIC and ICDT. In his speech, H.E. Mr. Alpha SOUMAH assured that, as the regional coordinator of this project, the Republic of Guinea, through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Handicraft, will continue supporting all sorts of activities that aim to contribute to the implementation of this project. At the end of his statement, H.E. Mr. SOUMAH highlighted that considering the importance of Cross-Border Park and Protected Areas in West Africa in tourism for economic development, the continuous organisation of such training activities are essential for enhancing the capacities of the workers in this field.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Nebil DABUR, Director General of SESRIC, highlighted the importance of international tourism as one of the main economic activities and an important source of foreign exchange earnings, economic growth, and employment in many developed and developing countries, including the OIC countries. However, considering the effects of the pandemic in the tourism sector in the OIC countries and elsewhere over the last two years, many countries around the globe paid special attention to alternative tourism activities and niche tourism markets such as ecotourism and nature tourism as an alternative way to sustain and revive the tourism sector, he added. In the domain of ecotourism, H.E. Mr. DABUR stressed that tourism activities in protected areas provide a crucial and unique way of fostering visitors’ connection with protected area values, making it a potentially positive force for the conservation of such areas. This type of tourism activity creates enormous economic benefits for protected areas and surrounding communities and helps create greater support for conservation, he added. Before concluding, H.E. Mr. DABUR assured that SESRIC will continue furthering its collaboration with ICDT within the framework of this project and towards providing services for the OIC Member Countries in the Centre’s mandated areas, namely research, statistics and training, with the aim of assisting them to develop a sustainable and inclusive tourism sector.

In her welcoming remarks, H.E. Mrs. Latifa ELBOUABDELLAOUI, Director General of ICDT, informed the participants about the Regional Project on “Sustainable Tourism Development in a Network of Cross-Border Park and Protected Areas in West Africa” and recalled the importance of the project for the OIC due to its benefit for the economic development through ecotourism in the region. Moreover, H.E. Mrs. ELBOUABDELLAOUI underlined the objectives of the projects and mentioned the implemented activities since the initiation of the project in 2005. In her conclusion, H.E. Mrs. ELBOUABDELLAOUI reiterated the engagement of her Institution to continue enhancing collaboration with SESRIC in the common areas of interest to foster the sharing of knowledge, experience and best practices in the OIC region.

SESRIC developed and initiated its Tourism Capacity Building Programme (Tourism-CaB) in 2015. The Programme aims at supporting and contributing to the efforts of the OIC Member Countries towards strengthening institutional and human capacities by sharing knowledge, experiences and best practices among the relevant Ministries and national institutions in charge of tourism. Within this framework of this Programme, the Centre organises capacity-building activities by using various modalities such as training courses, training workshops, and study visits. For more information on SESRIC’s Tourism Capacity Building Programme (Tourism-CaB), please visit: https://www.sesric.org/cbp-oic-tourism.php

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