Tourism illustrates the true significance of peace, Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen (Blue and White) said Monday during a conference with representatives from the Persian Gulf.
She was speaking at a panel held during the UK’s World Travel Market event. The event, the second-largest international tourism fair, involved United Arab Emirates Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Ahmad bin Abdullah Belhoul Al Falasi and Bahraini Industry Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed R. Alzayani.
Moderator and CNN business editor John Defterios mentioned his work covering the Abraham Accords and said all nations involved in it share “a DNA for business.”
Falasi said while his country has great universities, it is always important to travel to experience new cultures, and he takes his children to a new country on each family vacation.
The Israeli and Bahraini economies are both diverse, Alzayani said, adding that as his nation is not as oil rich as other countries in the region and has many young people “for whom we wish to create opportunities.”
“Being small nations, we need to distinguish ourselves,” he said.
His island nation’s long history of commerce on the Silk Road means that “meeting another culture is nothing new for us,” Alzayani said.
“I’ve been a minister for six years,” he said. “I never got so many calls from businessmen or friends asking me to take them with me when I go to Jerusalem.”
There has been a Jewish synagogue in Bahrain since 1935, and former Bahraini ambassador to the US Houda Nonoo was a Jewish woman, Alzayani said. Bahrain is able to offer plenty of kosher food to anyone who visits, he joked.
“We can’t wait until the sky opens,” Farkash-Hacohen said, adding that it was very exciting for her to take part in such a panel.
“We are progressing to sign treaties of collaboration in tourism and commerce in a matter of weeks,” she said.
Israel is preparing for Muslim visitors by training tour guides to instruct in Arabic and offering halal food options, Farkash-Hacohen said.
“We want our friends to feel at home wherever they go,” she said.
The Tourism Ministry recently published a guide for Israelis with a list of “dos and don’ts” for when they visit the UAE and Bahrain to ensure “everything goes smoothly when the sky opens.”
The Knesset is set to approve the agreement with Bahrain on Tuesday, Farkash-Hacohen said.
Falasi said more than 70% of tourists to his country are from abroad, with local tourism being a little more than 20%.
“So adding a new country like Israel is very beneficial for our tourism sector,” he said. “We naturally cater to many cultures, so we didn’t publish a list of dos and don’ts. We are international by default.”