Mogadishu(SONNA)-Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Mohamed Abdi Hayer ‘Mareye’ on Wednesday participated in a virtual meeting of Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism, SONNA reported.
Arab Ministers discussed mechanisms to confront challenges imposed by the outbreak of COVID-19 as the tourism and travel sector represents 14.2 percent of the Arab countries’ GDP, where it contributes significantly to advancing the economy.
Arab Organization for Tourism said in a statement earlier that an estimate losses in tourism revenues is about $25 billion, airline companies’ revenues at around $8 billion, and tourism investments at $12.96 billion.
About one million permanent jobs and hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs could be canceled in the tourism sector according to the statement.
On his part, Somali Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mohamed Abdi Hayer urged the Ministerial Council to consider all possible means to revive tourism, despite continuing the combat against COVID-19.
Source: SONNA/ Asharq Al-Awsat
