00:00C'est mon plaisir de vous présenter aujourd'hui
00:23sur le diplôme de la tourisme,
00:26c'est un sujet qui s'est à la croissance de l'économie,
00:32international coopération et long-term stabilité ou sostenibilité.
00:37Notre économie est très dépendant de la mine,
00:39donc c'est pourquoi nous aimons diversifier notre économie.
00:43C'est pourquoi le tourisme est le deuxième secteur de la Mongolia.
00:52C'est le pêler de notre économie de l'économie,
00:55et l'économie de l'économie de l'économie.
00:59La Mongolia est un pays d'authenticité de l'économie,
01:05de l'économie de l'économie,
01:08de l'économie de l'économie,
01:12de l'économie,
01:14de l'économie de Genghis Khan,
01:16Mongolia's rising star of tourism.
01:19The growth is a result of deliberate policy choices including visa facilitation,
01:25air transport liberalisation,
01:28digital outreach and cross-border tourism cooperation.
01:32Come to Mongolia,
01:34this is Osis or island of democracy in our region.
01:39Come to a land where tourism services,
01:42diplomacy and investment builds lasting legacy.
01:46Thank you for your attention.
01:48Go Mongolia!
01:50One of the things that makes your industry different is that there's still a positive story to tell to the world.
02:00How do you see the perspectives in 2026?
02:03because it is a positive story,
02:06it is a positive industry,
02:08but it does not live in a silo.
02:10Obviously the global context can't have an impact.
02:12So how do you see the two coming together?
02:15So jumping directly to your question,
02:18I will speak on a perspective of an African country
02:23that of course feels the impact of all the situation going on in the world.
02:31and Africa has the most grown population in the world,
02:37and the youngest one.
02:40So the main challenge that African countries face now
02:47is the challenge of the unemployment.
02:51So we are now focused on those kind of industries
02:58that are intensive in human resources,
03:02that can fight the unemployment that we see in our societies.
03:07So we need stability.
03:09We need the industries of peace.
03:12Tourism is one of them.
03:13As African countries, we are strongly committed on taking advantage of this demographic advantage
03:22for shifting our economies,
03:25for being those that are dependent on the extractive sector,
03:30like oil, diamonds,
03:32to go to the services economy,
03:36with the creative industries,
03:39cultural, tourism,
03:41and there we can compete with the other countries.
03:45That's what I think. Thank you.
03:47Minister, so just very briefly,
03:49what's your pitch to European companies who want to take that on their word?
03:53who say, you know what, we want to bet on Africa.
03:56Our governments are telling us we need to work with them.
03:58What do you offer them?
04:00Yeah, and thank you for your question.
04:03I believe that foreign direct investments succeed
04:08not only when you have good business environment,
04:12with good opportunities,
04:14but when the companies go there,
04:18starting a business with zero bureaucracy as well,
04:23as we have done in Angola,
04:25we have declared a war to bureaucracy in tourism.
04:28Yeah, it's a war declaration,
04:30so that's why we have received the award
04:35of best destination for investment tourism
04:39last year with the Global Tourism Forum.
04:42From one of the top tier destinations in the world,
04:44known by everyone across the world,
04:46how do you see this 2026 playing out?
04:49There's a very difficult global context,
04:51so where do you see challenges that can be addressed through partnerships?
04:54I do feel that I'm a little bit the opposite
04:56of what Minister was just mentioning,
04:59you know, the youngest continent in the moment.
05:02I sort of represent a little bit the opposite,
05:05but, you know, with experience comes a legacy,
05:09comes a gravity that we need to bring forward.
05:12So in the setting the example,
05:14there's a lot of positivity as well.
05:16I am a firm believer that not only, I mean,
05:19tourism is the most positive industry in the world,
05:21but it's also the most human.
05:23And the Minister mentioned it correctly.
05:26I mean, if we want to generate jobs for the younger generations,
05:30and we want to keep it human, definitely tourism is an absolute resource.
05:34There is nothing like it, absolutely.
05:37There's no AI that's going to get in the middle,
05:39no chatbot that is going to substitute the human experience,
05:42the, you know, person-to-person exchange,
05:44building long-lasting memories.
05:47But, you know, we have a lot of things to do as well.
05:50I mean, who knew that Rome or the suburbs of Rome
05:54could become a number one Congress destination in the world?
05:58Which is a perfect segue now to Dr. Gopinath.
06:01I wonder for 2026, what kind of horizon do you look at?
06:05What are you expecting?
06:06And again, this question that we mentioned before,
06:08you don't live in your own bubble.
06:10There's a broader context, which is challenging.
06:13So is that going to have any impact?
06:15And if so, how do you mitigate?
06:16I'm very optimistic.
06:18The meeting industry brings overall the knowledge,
06:21thought, the innovation, and also the future generation together.
06:25And we see that from 25 to 26, the growth is about 64%.
06:29There are 864 new meetings that have been launched in the last 24 months,
06:33only on the topic of AI.
06:35Now, when you start a meeting of that nature,
06:38it brings over 1,000 plus people,
06:40it brings economics together, it brings knowledge together,
06:42it brings academia together,
06:44it also brings innovation and creativity together.
06:47So there is huge opportunity across the world.
06:50I mean, we as Ika used to operate in about 70 plus countries five years ago.
06:55Now we're going to 108 countries.
06:57So you can see the potential.
06:59Everybody wants to invest. Why?
07:01Because the business, the investment,
07:03you talk about any topic, medical science, healthcare,
07:06you need an audience coming together.
07:08First of all, is it still possible to connect people,
07:13prevent perhaps conflict through the shared experience of tourism?
07:17Oh, I think it's entirely possible.
07:19We've experienced that in Sri Lanka for ourselves,
07:23that the people-to-people connections that tourism enables
07:27is one of the main factors that has enriched our relationships
07:32and strengthen diplomacy throughout.
07:36So we are a prime example of how that works.
07:39Well, thank you, Prime Minister.
07:40And now also joining us on the panel, we have Kuban Omid Aliyev.
07:43He is the Secretary General of the Organization of the Turkic States.
07:47Sir, how do you see this new scenario playing out?
07:51Because a lot of things are changing.
07:53Yeah, thank you very much.
07:55Tourism is one part of the main part of the economy now,
08:01not only in our countries.
08:03As just before, Mongolian Prime Minister mentioned,
08:07Her Excellency now is mentioned,
08:09or in our African friends mentioned,
08:11everywhere is tourism becoming important.
08:14It's not only bringing people together,
08:18as just you mentioned, it's changing political,
08:21not only daily, hourly changing now,
08:24but tourism will be to really soft power,
08:29and really to people to people tie is also our main priority in our organization.
08:37And you know, I want to ask you just to very quickly follow up to what you said.
08:41There are some countries, potential visitors,
08:43who are only now coming to know you.
08:46How do you pitch that?
08:48Our geography is stretching from Anatolia to Central Asia,
08:54from Caspian to Altai.
08:56It's really a big area.
08:584.5 million square kilometers in our territory.
09:03We are in the top five.
09:05So, if you have someone, guests coming,
09:08they are providing them everything.
09:11We call it kosh geldings.
09:13We say only first, what say after say hello, we say welcome.
09:18So, this is, you know, also in the part of tradition.
09:22Well, thank you for that.
09:23And also joining us is Mishhari Al Nahari.
09:26He is the CEO of the Asir Investment Company.
09:29And it seems there's been a big push from the kingdom,
09:31especially in the past five years,
09:33to really open up and tell a narrative,
09:35to say there's many good destinations in the Gulf,
09:38and Saudi is equally as competitive as other neighbors.
09:42So, what's the outlook, would you say?
09:44The world is evolving.
09:46The Gulf is evolving.
09:47We're trying to build a story around tourism.
09:50So, the birth of this company is called Asir Investment Company.
09:53Asir, by the way, is a region in Saudi Arabia.
09:56In the topography, it has four different topographies.
09:59It has the mountains, it has the wadis, it has the coast,
10:02and it has the plateau.
10:03So, we're trying to build a year-round destination around this region.
10:08People no longer travel to try a specific asset or to taste a specific food.
10:16They travel for an experience.
10:18What can we provide to those people?
10:20How we can build those experiences?
10:23The experiences need to be built based on a partnership spirit,
10:26with partners, with locals, with the community,
10:29from the people to the people.
10:31So, people travel to see each other, to get to know each other,
10:34and to experience each other's culture.
10:36Just for administers, I know you have to go.
10:38Just a final question.
10:39Of course, it's Davos, so we have to talk about business too.
10:41For an investor, for foreign money, what can they expect?
10:45Well, we are looking to build that infrastructure,
10:48the infrastructure that is welcoming towards investors,
10:52one that's transparent, accountable.
10:54But I must say that we are looking for investors
10:56who are interested in long term
10:58and fits in with our overall economic and development vision
11:01for a more inclusive, climate-friendly country.
11:07and that's the kind of investment we look for even within the tourism sector.
11:12So, the Vice President of the Republic of Suriname, of course,
11:17thank you very much for being with us.
11:19In this very competitive market, that is tourism,
11:22in which everyone obviously tries to make the best case for your country,
11:25what is the case or the pitch that you make to anyone who wants to visit?
11:30What can they expect?
11:31I must say that Suriname is going through some exciting times.
11:35And the nice thing about Suriname is that we have been able,
11:38over the last 100 years, that we are living very nicely together.
11:44Suriname, as far as the different populations is concerned,
11:49but also the religions, you know, live nicely together.
11:53And it's the only place, I think, on Earth
11:57where you will find a synagogue next to a mosque sitting together
12:03and the people looking after each other.
12:05We also have, I think, very interesting for, as far as tourism is concerned,
12:11people must recognize that Suriname is one of the three only countries in the world
12:16that are carbon negative.
12:18Well, thank you very much.
12:20And, of course, we continue in our panel.
12:21Please allow me to introduce Randy Durbin.
12:23He is the CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance.
12:27Christopher Kisling, he is the President of the Loro Parque Foundation.
12:30I've got to say, I've been to them many times in the past.
12:33And Nicole Monge, she is Senior Director at APCO.
12:37Of course, I'm sure it does not escape to you, however,
12:40that the global conversation around sustainability has really changed
12:44and some argue it's not really at the forefront anymore.
12:47So what is the impact in your different perspectives?
12:51And is that still the case?
12:52You know, is it still relevant?
12:53Or actually, it's hard to pitch it now as a premium element in a package.
12:58We can start with you, sir.
12:59Thank you.
13:00I believe it's our responsibility.
13:02We are an educational center, so we're inspiring loads of young children.
13:07So when they come to the park and when they meet the animals, live animals,
13:11in a controlled environment, not impacting, which is the natural habitats,
13:16then they get this inspiration which in the future will cause a more sustainable world,
13:22which we need nowadays.
13:24And on that note perhaps for you, Mr. Durbin, is the sustainable conversation still relevant
13:29when it comes to the specific sector of tourism and gathering convenient people?
13:34I think it's more relevant today than ever.
13:37And I would push back on whether it was ever niche or going away.
13:42All generations, young generations, are very angry at the world they're inheriting.
13:47And we're seeing now in satisfaction data on travel and tourism that the traveler wants it.
13:54So I push back on two levels.
13:56The capital markets want sustainability, and I would argue the travelers want it.
14:01I think there's so many misconceptions.
14:03Is it perhaps wrong the way that sustainability is measured?
14:07Is there perhaps an issue in the way that we use the metrics or the data that's used?
14:13Because some look at sustainability as something that's really a pain, you know?
14:17It's you travel, oh, I'm such a horrible human being, I got on a plane.
14:20I think it's linking it to these other benefits.
14:25I truly do think linking it to the economic benefit is important, I think.
14:29And I also think there's a piece of it around making people part of the solution as well
14:34and not just creating a narrative where they're a problem.
14:38So it's also a way to sort of shift and change that narrative and how they talk about it.
14:44But that's just one way.
14:47That's all we have time for.
14:48You can watch the full conversation on Euronews.com.
14:51Thanks for watching.
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