Conference: Tourism, Heritage and Cultural Change in the Middle East and North Africa Region

International Conference. Tourism, Heritage and Cultural Change in the Middle East and North Africa Region. 4-7 April, 2009, Amman, Jordan. Under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya Bint Al Hassan

Dear all,

I am writing to inform you of the above major international conference which will be the largest of its kind organised in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. The Conference is being organised by the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change (CTCC) based in the UK, and the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) based in Jordan. The Conference is supported by the Greater Amman Municipality. The patron of the conference is Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The event will be held in the King Hussein Cultural Centre in the heart of Amman. Dr Taleb Rifai, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation will be a keynote speaker.

The aims of this innovative and multi-disciplinary conference are to critically explore the major issues facing the MENA region with regard to the development of tourism and its relationships with heritage and culture, to draw upon best practice from international scholars and, to help develop new research capacities amongst the region’s scholars, policy makers and professionals. The conference will bring together over 150 international delegates, all with an interest in sharing research relating to the changing relationships between tourism, heritage and culture in the Middle East and North Africa. The conference will provide an important occasion for exchanging ideas about tourism, heritage and culture which we recognise as an important mechanism in generating inter-cultural dialogue. UNESCO and ICCROM will be represented.

I would like to invite you to attend this major international event. I highly encourage you to attend and register for the Conference. The conference will provide an occasion where scholars can present and discuss Middle Eastern and North African tourism, which I know to be a growing and important phenomenon. It is, I believe, important that the ‘west’ learns more about the MENA heritage and tourism.

Alternatively, if your organisation would like to be a sponsor of the conference, or of any of the conference activities, then please contact us to discuss sponsorship opportunities. We will be happy to discuss ways in which we can profile your work. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

We believe this event to be a very worthy initiative and we wish to make it a great success with a lasting agenda to build capacity in the region. I hope you will be able to support this conference in some way and I look forward to hearing from you. Please find the Brochure and Registration Form for the conference which has been sent out worldwide on the following link:
http://www.tourism-culture.com/64/C-MENA/C-MENA%20brochure%20&%20registration%20form_final.pdf


I do hope you will be part of what promises to be an important event which explores both the challenges and the opportunities for the MENA region.


Lina G. Tahan
Conference Convenor