AYSEN JOURNEYS PARTICIPATES IN WORLD TOURISM DAY IN RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
Invited by Gloria Guevara, Chef Special Advisor to the Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khateeb, our journalist from Aysén Journeys, Sebastian Abeliuk, was present for the celebration of World Tourism Day. The event was launched by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), whose authorities stressed the need to invest heavily in education and infrastructure, and pointed South America as a challenge to work in connectivity, especially in terms of flights and airline options.
Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General of the UNWTO, told us about the need to strengthen accessibility in different countries, starting with a gesture as basic as a welcome and farewell by immigration agents at airports. The second important step, in his opinion, is the task of facilitating entry to destinations, which is why he stressed the need to study the elimination of visas and cumbersome procedures. "It is those who work in tourism who suffer the most from the consequences if tourists cannot arrive," said the secretary general. And thirdly, he stated that we must continue working on accessibility for people with disabilities, improving infrastructure such as good access to airports and hotels.
And in that sense, our Aysén region has an arduous task ahead. It is essential, we believe, that better accessibility services are created between different locations. We know that Aysén is a remote region, but we must insist that improvements be created for people with mobility difficulties, especially in the national parks, which are currently practically impossible for people in wheelchairs or with physical problems.
NATALIA BAYONA, FOR THE UNWTO THE PRIORITY IS INVESTING IN TOURISM AND IN PEOPLE
"For the UNWTO, it is key to be able to strengthen the promotion of investment in tourism," said Natalia Bayona, executive director of the UNWTO. In her words, currently the investment model is very traditional and based on tax issues. Therefore, her job is to aim to invest in innovation and startups, since today 50% of young people who work in tourism only have completed secondary education. In Aysén the challenge, therefore, is to work hand in hand with guides and operators, so that there can be investment in learning new languages, or even that they can be perfected in good institutes in Chile and abroad. "Talent development in tourism companies and new technologies is what we need," said Bayona.
FAM PRESS TO ALULA AND JEDDAH
Our journalist also had the opportunity to participate in a FAM Press organized in the towns of AlUla and Jeddah. In the first destination we find surprising tombs in the middle of the so-called Incense Route, where a city and a necropolis were built by the Nabataean Arabs. Another of the important landmarks visited was Elephant Rock, a sandstone rock figure molded by wind and rain over the centuries, and in which today a figure of an elephant's trunk can be seen.
In Jeddah we had the opportunity to visit the oldest area of the city, where buildings made of wood and coral from the Red Sea stand out.
Categorías - Events - People - Markets - Culture - Challanges - Education - Special Projects