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Sustainable Destination Management

Strategies in the OIC Member Countries

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including the 2017 series “Silk Road Journey” on Globe Trekker, the 2016 “David Baddiel on

the Silk Road” aired on Discovery Channel Networks International as well as the three episodes

of “The Silk Road” documentary series aired on BBC4. UNWTO sponsored Silk Road presence

in key international travel fairs in Berlin, London, Madrid, and Moscow.

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In terms of digital tools, The Silk Road does not have a dedicated consumer-oriented website.

However, there is a website for UNWTO’s Silk Road Initiative, which mainly covers activities

and research commissioned by UNWTO. In 2011, UNWTO organized a competition for bloggers

from around the world “the Silk Road Challenge” to create a travel blog on the Silk Road. It

helped set-up meetings between the competing bloggers and the Silk Road destination

representatives at the World Travel Market in London to allow the bloggers to collect

information.

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Silk Road TC members from OIC countries have also invited travel bloggers to

promote their destinations, as in the case of Uzbekistan’s hosting the World Influencers

Congress.

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In the case of the Umayyad Route, the corridor’s website includes documentary videos and

guidebooks for corridor member countries that provide information on the Umayyad heritage

in these countries, including the significance of the sites.

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In Jordan, familiarization trips to

Jordanian attractions on the Umayyad Route were organized for Spanish public sector

employees as well as Spanish and Jordanian tour operators. Jordan’s Tourism Promotion Board

(JTB), which has currently 12 international offices in key markets such as New York and Dubai,

is also anticipated to play an active role in promoting and marketing the Umayyad corridor.

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In the case of the Holy Family TC, as Egypt and Jordan are still in the process of formalizing

cooperation on the corridor, there are no dedicated sites or joint marketing efforts. Both

countries currently use traditional tools to promote the Holy Family sites within their

destinations. In Egypt, with the help of the Coptic Church, the Tourism Ministry has organized

familiarization trips for tour guides to Holy Family sites, which was followed by a visit from an

Italian religious delegation hosted by the Coptic Church in Egypt in 2018.

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The OIC MDTCs have also benefited from collaboration with various stakeholders in marketing

efforts. Within the context of the East Africa Northern Corridor, local tourism businesses and

government bodies, including Rwanda’s Department of Tourism and Conservation, Kenya’s

Tourism Board, and Uganda’s Tourism Board, cooperate in formulating joint tourism

marketing strategies and campaigns for the TC.

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2.5.

Successes and Challenges of OIC Tourism Corridors

The OIC MDTCs have been successful in a number of areas, including the formulation of TC

themes and identification of assets, creating platforms for cooperation between public and

private stakeholders, and supporting capacity building for tourism stakeholders. The examples

brought forward in this chapter shows that the existing OIC MDTCs have succeeded to a large

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UNWTO (UNWTO) and European Travel Commission. 2017. Handbook on Marketing Transnational Tourism Themes and

Routes.

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UNWTO website.

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Please refer to the Silk Road case study for further details.

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Umayyad Route Website.

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Taqniyat At-Turath (CulTech) and the Local Support Group. 2015.Strategic Local Action Plan for Jordan Umayyad Project:

A strategic ENPI-CBCMED Project.

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Egypt Independent Website. 2018. Italian tourism in Egypt to witness boost after Holy Family Journey: Ambassador.

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e-Turbo News. 2015. Northern Corridor Integration Projects countries seek uniform tourism marketing approach.