MUSCAT : Hosted by the Sultanate of Oman, the forum emphasised the importance of utilising advanced technologies, such as big data analysis and artificial intelligence, to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of tourism indicators and benefit from administrative data available to various government agencies.

The forum also recommended encouraging innovation in tourism data sources by enhancing big data sources, such as mobile phone location data, electronic payment system data, geographic information systems, reservation data, etc., and focusing on providing comprehensive information and data that contribute to supporting decision-making and strategic planning for the tourism sector.

The forum urged Arab countries to adopt international frameworks for tourism statistics by adhering to the principles of official statistics and recommendations of the United Nations World Tourism Organization in providing periodic and regular data on the tourism supply and demand and applying tourism sub-account to measure the overall economic impacts of tourism to national economies.

The forum stressed the importance of regional and international cooperation to support innovation in tourism statistics through cooperation between Arab countries and other countries and international and regional organizations to adopt innovations in the fields of collecting and analysing tourism data,
exchanging expertise and best practices, and increasing exchange of expertise between Arab countries regarding competitiveness indicators and the employment of best practices in raising the ranking of Arab countries in this regard.

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