The ministry of tourism during Gaddafi's government was called: "The
General Board for Tourism and Traditional Industries" (الهيئة العامة للسياحة
والصناعات التقليدية). The Committee for Tourism and Traditional Industries
was established to oversee and regulate tourism in Libya. The Board had a poor
website, with hardly any information about Libya (www.libyan-tourism.org). Its
address was: AlJala Road, P.O. Box 82063 (and P.O. Box 71981), Tripoli, Libya;
Tel: (+218) 21 3334673; (+218) 21 503 041; Fax: (+218) 21 4445336.
On the 22nd of March 2012, nearly five months after Libya was declared liberated,
the transitional government of prime minister el-Keib issued Decree 122/2012,
which amended the name of "The General Board for Tourism and Traditional
Industries" to the "Tourism Department" (مصلحة
السياحة), and made this department part of The General Board for Tourism
and Antiquities (الهيئة العامة للسياحة والآثار). Article (2) effects this
decree from the date of its publication (22/03/2012).
Three days later, on the 25th of March 2012, el-Keib's transitional government
issued Decree 130/2012, stating that:
Article (1): organising
"The General Board for Tourism and Antiquities", established by NTC's
Decree number 178 of year 2011.
Article (2): The General Board for Tourism and
Antiquities "enjoys its legal entity and independent financial liability",
and is part of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
Article (3): the headquarters of The General
Board for Tourism and Antiquities is in Tripoli, with the option to open other
branches in other cities on request from the Prime Minister's Office.
Article (4): this article contains 13 points,
covering the objectives and the duties of the board, including establishing a
plan and strategies in the fields of tourism and antiquities; following-up the
implementation of these plans; establishing programs and projects relating to
tourism and antiquities; establishing social and economic studies to identify
and remove obstacles; increasing public awareness of the importance of tourism
as one of the national income sources; training local talents in relation to
tourism services; activating "internal tourism"
as well as "international tourism"; and suggesting plans to protect
and develop tourism amenities and archaeological sites.
Article (11): subject to the General Board for
Tourism and Antiquities are the following two departments:
Antiquities Department
Tourism Department
Article (13): this decision is effective from
the date of its publication [25/03/2012], and all conflicting decisions are hereby
cancelled. [Translation: by Temehu.com]
Although it might appear that the above two decrees speak of two departments
for the same
"organisation", the distinction is clear:- the General Board for Tourism
and Traditional Industries is now called the "Tourism
Department"; and this department is part of the General
Board for Tourism and Antiquities. Therefore the structure of the new
organisation, based on the above decrees, is as follows:
Where Does The Name "Ministry of Tourism" come from?
It is not known where the name "ministry of tourism" comes from.
According to the new website of the tourism ministry, the ministry was established
by decree 130 (of 2012) - the decree summarised above and can be read here: Decree
130/2012.
But reading through the entire decree one fails to find any
reference to the "ministry", only the name of "The General Board
for Tourism and Antiquities", which is very similar to the name established
by Gaddafi's government. The above image (on the left) is a snapshot of the actual
title of decree 130. However, the above image on the right is taken from a photo
of the current building of the ministry of tourism (as shown at the top of this
page), which names the "Board" the "Ministry of Tourism".
Address & Contact Details
وزارة السياحة
طريق الشط
بجوار ميناء طرابلس البحري
طرابلس
ليبيا
Ministry of Tourism
Bab Albahr
Near Tripoli Seaport
Tripoli
Libya
Tel.: 021-3364621 (+218213364621)
Fax: 021-3364605 (+218213364605)
Website: www.tourism.gov.ly/
Ministry of Tourism Website
In order to encourage tourism in Libya, the ministry of tourism blocked its website for the public and seemingly made it a private "enterprise", where only registered members can access the website. This happened sometime after the GNC was renamed GNA. Let us hope the new leaders of the GNU reverse the decision. As of now (March 2021) the website is still locked. http://www.tourism.gov.ly/
The Minister of Tourism: (Tripoli)
Photo of Minister of Tourism Ikram
Bash Imam.
2012 - 2014
Source of photo:
ministry's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/LIBYANTOURISM.LY)
The transitional cabinet, proposed on the 30th of October 2012 by Dr. Ali
Zidan, included two women: Ikram Imam, the minister of tourism, and Kamila Almazini,
minister of social affairs. Temehu.com welcomes the appointment of a female minister
to administer tourism in Libya. The only country in the world in 2012 where women
form more than half of the parliament (lower or single House) is African Rwanda
(57%), followed by Andorra (50%), and Cuba and Sweden (45%). Libya and the USA
are far behind, nearly at the end of the table. The
following is a short biography of Ikram Imam:
Full name: Ikram Abdussalam Bash Imam (وزير السياحة:
اكرام عبدالسلام باش امام).
Age: 59.
Bachelor's Degree in Architectural Engineering, Tripoli University, 1975.
Worked as Head of Design and Manager of the Projects Department, which included
hotels and residential blocks.
Worked at the Religious Affairs Board.
Worked at the General Board for Tourism.
Was a member of the committee that oversaw the establishment of Tourism
Law Project.
Presented a study for establishing the founding structure of tourism projects.
Member of the committee entrusted to follow-up the general plan for tourism.
Contributed with design and management of Libya's wings at a number of international
tourism exhibitions.
Deputy Minister of Tourism (وكيل وزارة السياحة )
Dr. Abdelsamia Amer Almahboub (الدكتور عبدالسميع عامر
المحبوب)
The front page of the ministry of tourism website (http://www.tourism.gov.ly/)
The website went offline a number of times before it disappeared. As of October
2017 accessing the website requires a password.
Second Minister of Tourism (Tripoli):
Photo Source: facebook.com/LIBYANTOURISM.LY
Militia-appointed, Tripoli's Minister of Tourism: Mr. Almabrouk Muhamed Ali
Attargi
وزير
السياحة المبروك محمد علي التارقي
Third Minister of Tourism (Tripoli)
On the 18th of April 2017 the PC issued Decree
370 of 2017 in which they replaced
Mr. Attargi with Mr. Malik
Mr. Khayder Basheer Malik
Head of the General Board for
Tourism
Note: the name of the Ministry of Tourism has been changed again to how
it was during Gaddafi's government: the General Board for
Tourism. Also note that all GNA ministers are operating illegally because none
of the proposed GNA governments were approved by the HoR.
The Minister of Tourism appointed by the elected transitional government
of Tobruk is Dr. Ahmed Abusqawa
رئيس الهيئة العامة للسياحة والاثار
بالحكومة المؤقتة الدكتور
أحمد بوسقاوة
Dr. Abusqawa
has been asking the HoR's government to merge the antiquities
department (الآثار) and the tourism board into one ministry, after the earlier
separation of the two departments. The minister said the separation had obstructed
the ministry's work which left the ministry almost empty:
أن الهيئة العامة للسياحة تعرضت إلى تفريغ من كامل محتوياتها حيث تم فصل الآثار
عنها الأمر الذي سبب الكثير من الإرباك لعمل الهيئة
GNU Minister of Tourism
عبدالسلام الالهي
وزير السياحة والصناعات التقليدية بحكومة الوحدة الوطنية
On the 17th of March 2021 the GNA's illegal minister of tourism handed over the ministry of tourism to the GNU's Tourism & Traditional Industries Minister, Mr Abdussalam Alelhi (عبدالسلام الالهي).
GNA's minister handover ministry to GNU's minister
