Four hard years: achievements, ambitions and plans

It takes a lot of courage and money to launch a publication, especially when it is of a cultural nature or takes a different view and approach to what is common and vulgar. I know this from my 15-16 years in a previous weekly publication and I face similar challenges with the present one.

When the publisher of Islamic Tourism Magazine invited me to join his team, the magazine had just finished its first year of quarterly issues. It was fairly new but the experience of publishing magazines was not new for the publisher. Publishing magazines is a recurring dream of Mr. Shakiry. He had previously published two trade magazines but the concept of an  Islamic tourism trade magazine was new. I thought the choice is hard and bold, especially when the magazine was born in the shadow of 9/ 11. I thought part of the name should be dropped but the publisher was adamant that it should stay. It is a defining term for the identity and direction of the magazine. I accepted that and defended it. It created a concept with a rich content and we are gaining ground culturally.

Much has happened in the international arena since the magazine was set up. We wondered about the name and the negative connotations which could be associated with it. But after much debate and discussion we decided to keep the name.  It is a sign of commitment and confidence  that the distance traveled so far has not been in vain and that our noble principles will not be sacrificed on the altar of commercialism.

Meanwhile, the magazine is entering its fifth year as a serious publication with lots of plans. In four years the magazine moved from a quarterly publication to bimonthly and from a bilingual English/ Arabic publication to French/Arabic and Spanish/Arabic issues as well. A new German website is under construction and preparations for a German edition of ITM are underway. The magazine will be published in four European languages from the next issue (January 2006).

We will also be working on “Tourism Directories” for different countries. The directories will have an  introduction to the given country, basic facts and  information about  tourism and other businesses with  full details. They are to be issued as supplements to the magazine and the blueprint is already displayed on our website (www.islamictourism.com).

We feel we are now ready to offer the tourism board of any country a franchise of the magazine, website and directories in their languages, in line with the current languages used in our publications. We provide all these services in the interests of international  tourism and  the promotion of culture, goodwill and understanding between nations.

Dr. Abdul-Rahim Hassan
Editor-in-Chief