Prof. Dr. Hanan Saad Qatara; the former Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels of Alexandria University has been invited by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and the World Tourism Organization to attend "The regional conference of World Tourism Organization". The conference is entitled "Human Capital Development in the Tourism Sector in the Middle East". The conference was organized by the World Tourism Organization and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism from 8-9 May 2018 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Dr. Hanan Qatara participated in a symposium and panel discussion on "Empowering women and youth to benefit from the economic gain of tourism development".

The conference brought together a number of high-level policy makers, industry leaders and prominent academics with an objective to develop policies, strategies and innovative solutions for human capital development in the MENA region.

The conference discussed policies and strategies that can be used to address key issues in the region, including the creation of new jobs and skills development, the promotion of youth employment, the participation of women in the tourism market and providing support for small projects.

The conference was attended by Dr. Rania Al-Mushat; Minister of Tourism, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili; Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, Mr. Omar Valdez; the Executive Director of THEMIS Foundation and Mr. Peter Van Rooij ; the Director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Office in Egypt.