Ahmed bin Nassir al Mehrzi, Minister of Tourism and his delegation left here yesterday to Turkey leading the Sultanate\'s delegation in the 1st Arab-Turkish Travel and Tourism Forum due to begin in the Turkish city of Bursa today under the patronage of Rajab Tayib Ardogan, Turkish Prime Minister Al Mehrzi stressed the importance of the Sultanate\'s participation in this major Arab-Turkish gathering as the Sultanate is celebrating Muscat as the Capital for Arab Tourism 2012. He said: \"It is expected that a large number of Arab tourists will visit the Sultanate due to its statues as the Arab tourism destination for this year, in addition to various tourism, heritage, cultural and environmental potentials in the Sultanate,\" he said. In a statement, the Tourism Minister added that organising this forum comes in implementation to the decision of the Arab Tourism Ministers Council as it aims at raising the level of tourism and knowledge exchange in addition to contributing in human resources development, qualification and training. The Tourism Minister explained that travel agencies, airline companies, real estate companies, education institutions, medical and sports travel agencies will take part in the forum which will create an appropriate atmosphere to sign agreements and strike deals between the direct and indirect sectors involved in providing services for the tourists.