SESRIC participated in the Second Arab Forum for Tourism Statistics, held on 14-16 October 2024 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. The event gathered regional and international experts to discuss tourism statistics, with SESRIC presenting its latest findings on Islamic tourism.

Dr. Ahmet ÖZTÜRK, Senior Researcher at SESRIC, delivered a presentation titled “Assessing the Capacities and Needs of OIC Countries for Islamic Tourism Indicators: Preliminary Results from the 2024 SESRIC Survey”. The survey, launched in May 2024, is part of SESRIC’s efforts to support the “Strategic Roadmap for the Development of Islamic Tourism in OIC Member Countries”, introduced in 2018.

The key findings revealed that while 80% of the surveyed countries expressed the need for training on developing Islamic tourism indicators, none of the countries could currently offer such training. Only 10% reported actively collecting Islamic tourism data, and 20% indicated collaborations with international organizations in this area.

The presentation highlighted the crucial role of Islamic tourism in the global market and reinforced the need for enhanced data collection and capacity building to foster evidence-based policy development across OIC countries.