The three-day conference was organized by the Tourism Ministry.

The participants of the 3rd International Geological Tourism Conference called upon the governments, tourism authorities and travel agencies on the importance of affirming the integration of the geological tourism in the formulation of the sustainable tourism strategies and their methods of management.

The closing statement of the conference, delivered by Maitha bint Saif al-Mahrouqiyah, Undersecretary of the Tourism Ministry, stressed the importance of enhancing communication between the local and international departments and workers in the fields of tourism, addressing the opportunities to expand in the research, management and promotion of the geological tourism, particularly that it is an important part of the sustainable tourism strategies.

The 3rd International Geological Tourism Conference also affirmed raising the geological awareness and knowledge in the tourism training and guidance, most importantly in tourism promotion and adopting modern techniques to address the geological sites to enhance the educational programme and raising the awareness towards this field, as well as encouraging the initiatives that ensure protection, preservation and identification of the geological landmarks and providing tourism service with global quality.

The participants, experts and specialists in the conference agreed that the Sultanate is considered to be as a promising destination for the geological tourism, in addition to other distinguished tourism standards.

The conference today discussed a number of working papers that touched on the potentials of the future geological tourism in the Governorate of Dhofar, the Sultanate’s experience in developing Al Hoota Cave and its stages of development, as well as how to promote the geological tourism and addressing the geological diversity in the future.

A number of international experiences in the field of promoting the geological tourism were presented, besides reviewing examples of a number of geological tourism projects in Ibri, Wadi Bani Khalid, Muscat, Maseerah and Al Jabal Al Akhdhar.

The conference discussed a number of themes represented in expanding the scale of the geological tourism, disseminating the awareness and the sustainable development for the services and products of geological tourism, as well as the natural sanctuaries including the geological parks, in addition to the management and promotion of the geological destinations.