His Royal Highness, Governor of the Asir Region, Prince Faisal bin Khalid, will sponsor and inaugurate this Tuesday the opening of "Urban Tourism Forum" at the theater of the Asir Region Municipality in collaboration with the President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Prince Sultan bin Salman.

The opening ceremony will include a speech by His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman. Then, it will be followed by another speech to be delivered by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Forum, the Secretary of Asir Region, Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Qadi, in addition to a presentation of the short film, " Hosn Palace in Asir." After that, the bodies that participated in the forum will be honored.

As part of the forum activities, King Khalid University represented by the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Center for Research in Environmental Studies and Tourism will participate with three research papers which will be discussed on 28 and 29/12/1438 AH. The first research paper will be handled in the first and fourth sessions of the second day of the forum, which will revolve around 'Tourism Investment,' entitled 'Obstacles of Hotel Tourism Activity in Abha City.' The faculty member who specializes in geography and the Professor in the College of Human Sciences Dr. Marsh Al Odaini and Prof. Najoud Al Qahtani will present the topics.

For the second research paper, the faculty member who specializes in environmental geography, and the Professor in the College of Human Sciences Dr. Adel Mu'atmad will open the fifth session. It is centered on the theme of 'Sustainable Tourism in Mountain Areas,' entitled 'Absorption Capacity for Ecotourism in the Asir Region: Practical Form.'

Regarding the third research paper, the faculty member who specializes in human geography, and the Professor in the College of Human Sciences Dr. Fayez Asiri will discuss 'Sustainable Tourism Development of the Mountain Valleys,' in the sixth session under the title of 'Sustainable Development in the Mountainous Areas.'

In this context, the Head of the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Center for Research in Environmental Studies and Tourism, Prof. Dr. Hussein Al Wadai, has clarified that the scientific committee of the forum has witnessed a lot of requests from researchers wishing to participate in the scientific forum. Hence, the number of submissions received has reached 117 research papers; noting that the committee reviewed all studies according to the objective conditions and criteria set by the committee. As a result, 20 papers were selected to participate in the forum through 6 scientific sessions, in addition to the closing session which will review the recommendations and final report.

As asserted by Al Wadai, "The high number of received research papers is a sign of the importance of the forum as well as the cultural renaissance of the region in the field of tourism, especially after being chosen as the Capital of Arab Tourism Capital for the current year."

He also added, "There are researchers from various countries and cultures with distinct experiences in the field of Urban Tourism who will exchange ideas to benefit the Asir region."