KHIVA: The 12th Session of the Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers, (12th ICTM) which was held in Khiva, Uzbekistan, concluded its Sessions on Sunday, announcing that three cities won the Tourism City Award of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, (OIC). The 12th ICTM approved the selection of Dakar city of Senegal, as the OIC City of Tourism for 2025, Cairo city of Egypt, for 2026, and Lahore city of Pakistan, for 2027.
Furthermore, the Conference commended the elaborate plans by the relevant OIC institutions for the commemoration of Khiva, as the OIC City of Tourism for 2024 and urged OIC Member States to actively participate in the various activities in awardee cities for 2025, 2026, and 2027.
The Conference endorsed Qatar as the host country for the 13th Session of ICTM in 2026 and urged Member States and OIC institutions to actively participate in that Session.
The 12th ICTM also urged all OIC Member States and relevant institutions to implement the Strategic Roadmap for the Development of Islamic Tourism and organize annual events on Islamic tourism in order to promote intra-OIC tourist flows, through visa facilitation, investment promotion, branding, and standardization, and capacity building.
The Conference invited the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) to work closely with the OIC and relevant International Organizations, including but not limited to UN Tourism, on the revised Strategy for the Development of Sustainable Cultural Tourism in the Islamic World.
Furthermore, the Khiva Conference called upon the OIC Member States to invest in ‘digitalization’ for promoting and marketing their respective destinations as well as improving international visitors’ experiences in the tourism sector with a view to speeding up the recovery efforts from the Covid-19 pandemic and hosting more international tourists.
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The participants in the 12th ICTM welcomed and expressed their gratitude to Uzbekistan, for holding the Conference in the historical City of Khiva, under the Theme: Development of the Tourism Industry in a Sustainable and Resilient Way. They also congratulated Uzbekistan for Samarkand, being selected as the Culture Capital of the Islamic World – 2025.
