Promoting Islamic Tourism Helps Draw the Real Image of Islam
The International Conference on Tourism in Islamic Countries continued yesterday in the evening session with a speech by Abdul Kadir Din, Professor of University of Utara in Malaysia.
In his lecture, Kadir Din said that all Islamic countries are aware of the economic value of tourism but very few are able to use and introduce their tourism potentials effectively. “Although there are many external factors that are beyond the control of destination countries, the internal factors may be managed to the level which allows for a successful and sustainable development. The growth of domestic tourism has little to do with external factors. The domestic sector may, nevertheless, act as a foundation for the development of international tourism; indeed, it may also serve as a catalyst for the development of other economic activities,” said Kadin Din in his speech.
He then categorized the development potentials of a country in terms of a seven-element framework including attractions, awareness, accessibility, availability, affordability, agency and accountability with the focus on the role of religion as a basis in tourism management.
According to Kadir Din, before discussing the Muslim world as a whole, one must realize their differences: “Any attempt to present a profile of Muslim countries will be confounded by their very diversity, diversity in terms of history, geography, politics, economy and culture.”
In an exclusive interview with CHN, Dr. Abdul Kadir Din pointed to the important role of the private sector in boosting Malaysia’s tourism in the recent years. The Malaysian professor of Utara University believes that the activities of the private sector in the tourism industry are essential in boosting a country’s tourism, as proven in the case of Malaysia in the recent years:
* How did Malaysia prosper its tourism industry during a decade plan?
- In our country, effective suggestions put forward by both public and private sector have been followed. At present, we have several hundreds of tourism offices around the world, I presume there is also one in Tehran, which contribute to Malaysia’s tourism.
* What are the roles of these offices in the development of Malaysia’s tourism?
- They both attract tourists to Malaysia and plan good itineraries for those who are not familiar with our land. So, it should be said that for developing the tourism industry, we need people capable of marketing and guiding tourists. On the other hand, even the politicians can attract tourists to a country. For instance, the speech Sayyed Mohammad Khatami, former Iranian president, delivered during the United Nations General Assembly in 1997 [during which he proposed to the UN to proclaim the year 2001 as “United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations”] made me so proud as a Muslim. We have done our best to make use of the popularity of Malaysian politicians to encourage people to visit Malaysia.
* How did you find Iran during your first and short stay?
- Iran has nice pre-historic and historic sites. The country has the potentials for attracting tourists.
* How do you think Iran can make use of its potentials to develop its tourism industry?
- For instance, I have read that Iran has had thousands of caravansaries and now the government of Iran is planning to build more hotels. While you have such a system for attracting tourists, there is a rare tendency to stay in American-like hotels. The old tradition of Iran should be sustained, otherwise your traditional ways of life would loose their color. Of course, constructing new hotels is a good idea to make money, but by that time, historical and cultural identity of Iran would be gone. On the other hand, Iran should ask tourists to publish their memories during their trip to Iran in the foreign media. I think this is a good idea to counter some misunderstandings about Iran.
* Aside from that, how else do you think such misunderstandings can be overcome?
- It is extremely hard to change the negative inserted opinions especially when different anti-Islamic lobbies promote it. The best way is to offer them the best services and prove to them that their previous conception of Islam was not right. We should also concentrate on changing the poisoned minds against Islam and the only possible way is “TOURISM”.
* How has Malaysia worked in advertising in tourism industry?
- It is one of the most significant cases in the development of tourism. When we were kids, there was lots of information about Australia, England, United States and some other countries but nothing about Iran. The first step can be training capable people like the Iranian professor, Jafar Ja’afari, who published the first tourism Magazine called “Announcement of Tourism.” He also opened the first International Academy of Tourism and we got to know Iran by his efforts. Then the matter of advertising in the foreign media should be considered to prosper this new industry called “tourism” in Iran.
Source: Cultural Heritage News
He then categorized the development potentials of a country in terms of a seven-element framework including attractions, awareness, accessibility, availability, affordability, agency and accountability with the focus on the role of religion as a basis in tourism management.
According to Kadir Din, before discussing the Muslim world as a whole, one must realize their differences: “Any attempt to present a profile of Muslim countries will be confounded by their very diversity, diversity in terms of history, geography, politics, economy and culture.”
In an exclusive interview with CHN, Dr. Abdul Kadir Din pointed to the important role of the private sector in boosting Malaysia’s tourism in the recent years. The Malaysian professor of Utara University believes that the activities of the private sector in the tourism industry are essential in boosting a country’s tourism, as proven in the case of Malaysia in the recent years:
* How did Malaysia prosper its tourism industry during a decade plan?
- In our country, effective suggestions put forward by both public and private sector have been followed. At present, we have several hundreds of tourism offices around the world, I presume there is also one in Tehran, which contribute to Malaysia’s tourism.
* What are the roles of these offices in the development of Malaysia’s tourism?
- They both attract tourists to Malaysia and plan good itineraries for those who are not familiar with our land. So, it should be said that for developing the tourism industry, we need people capable of marketing and guiding tourists. On the other hand, even the politicians can attract tourists to a country. For instance, the speech Sayyed Mohammad Khatami, former Iranian president, delivered during the United Nations General Assembly in 1997 [during which he proposed to the UN to proclaim the year 2001 as “United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations”] made me so proud as a Muslim. We have done our best to make use of the popularity of Malaysian politicians to encourage people to visit Malaysia.
* How did you find Iran during your first and short stay?
- Iran has nice pre-historic and historic sites. The country has the potentials for attracting tourists.
* How do you think Iran can make use of its potentials to develop its tourism industry?
- For instance, I have read that Iran has had thousands of caravansaries and now the government of Iran is planning to build more hotels. While you have such a system for attracting tourists, there is a rare tendency to stay in American-like hotels. The old tradition of Iran should be sustained, otherwise your traditional ways of life would loose their color. Of course, constructing new hotels is a good idea to make money, but by that time, historical and cultural identity of Iran would be gone. On the other hand, Iran should ask tourists to publish their memories during their trip to Iran in the foreign media. I think this is a good idea to counter some misunderstandings about Iran.
* Aside from that, how else do you think such misunderstandings can be overcome?
- It is extremely hard to change the negative inserted opinions especially when different anti-Islamic lobbies promote it. The best way is to offer them the best services and prove to them that their previous conception of Islam was not right. We should also concentrate on changing the poisoned minds against Islam and the only possible way is “TOURISM”.
* How has Malaysia worked in advertising in tourism industry?
- It is one of the most significant cases in the development of tourism. When we were kids, there was lots of information about Australia, England, United States and some other countries but nothing about Iran. The first step can be training capable people like the Iranian professor, Jafar Ja’afari, who published the first tourism Magazine called “Announcement of Tourism.” He also opened the first International Academy of Tourism and we got to know Iran by his efforts. Then the matter of advertising in the foreign media should be considered to prosper this new industry called “tourism” in Iran.
Source: Cultural Heritage News
