LONDON，Feb. 26 (People's Daily Online) -- The tourism sector in the Middle East and North Africa has recovered and bounced back since last year. Against this backdrop, regional ministers, Spanish authorities and private sector representatives focused on future tourism prospects at the Madrid International Tourism Fair.

The annual Forum has consolidated into a key platform for the exchange of best practices and identification of strategic areas to address in order to further strengthen tourism development in the region.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Spain, Ignacio Ybañez Rubio, underscored tourism as a tool for international understanding and expressed the need for a new Euro-Mediterranean agenda, with stability as a key element for sustainable tourism development.

UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, said, "Spain has a critical role in bringing Europe and the MENA region closer together, while tourism is one of the most important vehicles for the comeback of the region; this is already happening, creating jobs and eliminating poverty".

According to the most recent UNWTO data, after three successive years of decline, international tourist arrivals to the Middle East grew by 4 percent and by 1 percent to North Africa in 2014. Mainly depending on peace and stability, future tourism prospects for the Middle East are positive.