SESRIC participated in the COMCEC COVID-19 Tourism Consultative Meeting which was held on 9 July 2020, in a virtual format, with the theme of “the Impacts of COVID-19 on Tourism in the OIC Member Countries and the Way Forward”. The meeting was attended by the representatives of 25 OIC member countries and experts from relevant OIC institutions and international organizations.

The consultative meeting discussed the current and potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector, exchanged good practices and experiences among the member countries, and considered the cooperation opportunities based on the needs and expertise of the member countries. The meeting also reviewed ways and means on how to restore the confidence of international tourists to revive activities in the sector such as by boosting investments in infrastructure and innovation.

Dr. Cem Tintin, Senior Researcher, representing SESRIC thereat, made a presentation on the ‘Impacts of COVID-19 on Tourism in OIC Countries’. In his presentation, Dr. Tintin underlined that the pandemic has affected all OIC countries but at varying degrees and some OIC countries with high reliance on tourism receipts could experience financial problems unless they find out alternative sources of income. Dr. Tintin also mentioned that enhancing intra-OIC cooperation such as through experience-sharing in the domain of tourism could help member countries to mitigate some negative impacts of the pandemic in a relatively shorter period of time.