Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Saudi Arabia Ameer Ajwad recently met Director of the UN Tourism Regional Office for Middle East based in Riyadh, Samer Al Kharashi to discuss ways and means of promoting rural tourism industry in Sri Lanka.
The text of the press release issued by the Foreign Ministry regarding the meeting: “Director Al Kharashi extended a warm welcome to the Ambassador and his delegation to the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Regional Office in Riyadh and presented an overview of their activities with particular emphasis on the Rural Tourism Development Programme. He also pointed out that Sri Lanka as a high profiled tourist destination, holds a huge potential to contribute to the global tourism industry.
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad highlighted that uplifting the rural economy is one of the priorities of the Government of Sri Lanka and that the UN flagship initiatives such as “Best Tourism Villages (BTV)” which aims to promote sustainable and inclusive rural tourism, will potentially support the rural economic development in Sri Lanka. Jost Neuman made a comprehensive presentation on the BTV initiative, STAR services, and the technical assistance and capacity-building opportunities available to the Member States. Ambassador Ajwad proposed organising information sharing sessions between the UN team handling rural tourism development and Sri Lanka tourism development authorities in Colombo.
Both sides agreed to strengthen collaboration in areas such as technical assistance, capacity building, and to explore opportunities for Sri Lanka’s active participation in the forthcoming UN Tourism programmes and conferences.
The UN Tourism Regional Office for the Middle East hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, is the first regional office of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UN WTO) outside Madrid. The Office serves as a hub to coordinate and promote tourism-related initiatives across the Middle East, in line with the UN Tourism mandate to foster sustainable, inclusive, and resilient tourism development globally.
Saudi Arabia will be hosting the 26th General Assembly of the UN World Tourism Organisation in November 2025 in Riyadh.
The Ambassador was accompanied by HoC/Minister Mohammed Anas and First Secretary/Commerce, Tashma Vithanawasam of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Riyadh.