Khartoum - The Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Taleb Rifai, arrived in Khartoum Sunday on a visit to Sudan.

Speaking in a press conference at Khartoum Airport upon arrival, Rifai said the visit marks the start of the openness of Sudan to the external tourism market. He stressed the importance of the tourism industry as source of inexhaustible resources. He noted that Sudan has big tourism potentialities that should be utilized for the benefit of the Sudanese people.
Rifai pointed out that the visit is considered as a message to the world that Sudan welcomes the tourists and that the country has first class tourism attractions.
The Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization affirmed cooperation with the Sudanese Ministry of Tourism to develop the tourism industry in the country. He pointed out that the organization will spare no efforts for boosting and upgrading tourism in Sudan, saying that they will work for encouraging tourists from the various states of the world to come to Sudan.
He called on Sudan to work for increasing the number of arrivals of tourists by upgrading the infrastructures and promotion work, urging for making use of the huge cultural heritage and the natural attractions Sudan are endowed with for upgrading tourism industry, pointing out that tourism has the capability to be one of main economic resources for the Sudan.
Rifai indicated that the importance of tourism emanates from the fact that it is a means for consolidating social and political ties among the states of the world besides its economic importance.