MINUTES - 25 January 2005 MEETING

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The Peres Center for Peace, in cooperation with the Israeli Hotel Managers Association, held a regional tourism conference, the first of its kind in five years, entitled: "Regional Tourism in the Middle East - a New Era". The conference took place on 25^th January 2005 at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv. This conference, which grew from efforts to create dialogue between the Palestinian and Israeli tourism sectors, sought to strengthen the working relations between regional tourism industries.

30 Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli tourism professionals took part in the conference (see list of participants in Annex I).  A roundtable meeting for these delegates was held, followed by a public symposium (see Annex II).

Presentation
At the beginning of the roundtable meeting, representatives from each of the four delegations presented briefly on the tourism realities in their own country.  Here are highlights of these presentations:

Egypt Mr. Elhamy Elzayat
Mr. Elzayat presented a wide range of destinations and attractions within Egypt.  Additionally, he presented general statistics on tourism in his country, such as the following: the number of Israelis visiting Egypt increased from 146,700 in 2002 to 389,890 in 2004; the Jordan visitors to Egypt grew from 86,800 in 2002 to 118,100 in 2004, while the number of Palestinians who traveled to Egypt rose from 155,500 in 2002 to 172,160 in 2004.  Proportional to their population size, more Palestinians traveled to Egypt than any other group in the region.

Jordan Mr. Abdul Hakeem Al-Hindi
Mr. Al-Hindi highlighted the fact that Jordan is a country which attracts tourists for a variety of reasons.  Some travel to appreciate Jordan’s culture and heritage, others come to take in Jordan’s natural beauty and still others visit for health-related reasons. Mr. Al-Hindi continued say that Jordan is a secure and peaceful country that welcomes tourists. In addition, he raised the issue of visas to Israel for Jordanian tourists for discussion. 

The Palestinian Authority Mr. Raed Saadeh, Mr. Haidar Husseini & Mr. Raji Khoury
Mr. Saadeh spoke of the decline in the number of tourists visiting the Palestinian Authority since 2000.  In 2000, the occupancy rates of Palestinian hotels peaked at almost 50 percent.  In 2003, these rates had dropped below 10 percent.  He attributes this decrease in the number of tourists to political instability and limited access to the Palestinian Authority.  Despite these setbacks, the Palestinian Authority has implemented a series of developments to attract tourists, such as the restoration of Palestinian villages and the installation of a cable car in Jericho.

Mr. Husseini expressed the need for the conference participants to actively work together to create noticeable change within the tourism industry in the region.  He went on to say that participants must pressure the government and army authorities to implement these changes.  However, he emphasized the fact that despite recent meetings with the Israeli Minister of Tourism, little had come out of these meetings so far.

Mr. Khoury spoke of the issue of the lack of freedom of movement for tourists and professionals from the tourism industry, citing as an example a recent personal experience in which he was treated very poorly at the Bethlehem checkpoint

Israel Mr. Abraham Rosenthal
Mr. Rosenthal described the tourism industry as the primary catalyst for growth and employment in Israel.  He holds the current crisis responsible for an estimated NIS 11 billion loss of income between 1999 and 2004. Seeking to move beyond these setbacks, Mr. Rosenthal presented estimates that by the year 2009, 3.3 million tourists are expected to visit Israel, and there will an addition of 90,000 new jobs in the tourist industry between 2005 and 2009.   

Main Issues Discussed

1. Freedom of movement for tourists and professionals from the tourism industry between cities, countries and throughout the region:

2. Poor treatment of tourists traveling between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, such as lengthy waits, unpleasant facilities and unaccommodating soldiers, particularly at the Bethlehem checkpoint

3. Inability of tourism professionals and tour guides from Israel to travel in the Palestinian Authority and vice-versa. The problem of freedom of movement is especially apparent for tourism professionals from the West Bank, who encounter difficulties in receiving permits to Israel and for East-Jerusalemites wishing to travel into the Palestinian Authority

4. Lack of Arabic-speakers at checkpoints

5. International difficulties at border crossings throughout the region for both tourists and tourism professionals

6. Lengthy waiting period for Jordanians and Egyptians seeking a visa to visit Israel

Suggestions for addressing these problems:

• Create special checkpoints for tourists in locations such as Bethlehem

• Position Arabic-speakers at all checkpoints

• Place representatives from the Ministry of Tourism at checkpoints

• Insist that governments address the issue of freedom of movement

• Form a committee to deal specifically with the checkpoint issue

2.   Persuading governments about the importance and economic contribution of tourism:

• Limited ability of Ministries of Tourism to impact government policies

• Restricted ability of professionals from the tourism industry to impact government decision-making

Suggestions for addressing these problems:

• Lobby governments to act upon the economic potential of tourism

• Approach Ministries of Finance and present to them the economic implications of tourism issues

• Present societal possibilities of tourism- its ability to impact  people’s perceptions of "the other" through cross-cultural experiences

3.   Human Resource Development in the tourism sector:
Human resource development on a regional level is beneficial, not only because it raises the professional level of hotel employees, owners and managers, and students studying in tourism-related fields.  It is also important because it provides the opportunity for eye-opening cross cultural experiences which create positive impacts at the societal level. 

Suggestions for addressing these needs:

• Exchange programs and internships for students studying in tourism-related fields, which seek not only to increase the professional capacity of training participants, but to also provide needed cross-cultural experiences.

• Inviting regional representatives from the hotel industry to provide hotel owners and managers with additional training.

• Joint training sessions and courses for hotel management and staff from the region.

• Israel’s Ministry of Tourism funding some of these endeavors was also discussed.

4.      The interconnectedness of political instability and tourism trends:

• The instability of regional politics has had a lasting effect on the tourism industry, particularly in  Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan

• The volatility of global politics, particularly the wars in Iraq and September 11^th, has greatly impacted tourism in the region

• The negative affect of travel advisories, specifically those issued by the U.S. State Department, on tourism in the region

Suggestions to address these problems:
Encourage foreign governments to take into consideration the negative impact that travel advisories have on tourism

5.      Security:

• Israeli participants explained the Israeli government’s concern of people visiting the country under the pretext of tourism and committing acts of terror.

• Palestinian participants raised the concern that often the Israeli government uses false security concerns in a way that results in innumerable hardships for the Palestinian tourism industry, thus limiting the opportunities and making it less competitive in comparison to the Israeli tourism Industry

6.      Joint marketing of the region to tourists:

• Currently, tour operators within the region are not creating package deals to the region. Without these package deals, foreign tour operators are not inclined to create them on their own.

• Very few Egyptians and Jordanians travel to Israel

• There is a negative image of Israel in the region

Suggestions to address these problems:

• Tour operators and representatives from Tourism Ministries should visit neighboring countries and decide how to jointly market them to potential tourists.

• Representatives from Tourism Ministries should meet and send out a joint statement that they are working together, in order to change the public perception.

• The first stage of joint marketing should focus on religious tourists because they are most immediately drawn to the region.  From there, the marketing can broaden to other kinds of tourists.

• The first phase of joint marketing should focus on American tourists because the Euro is currently expensive, making non-European areas of the world more attractive to them.

• Create new images of the region using the media.

•  

Joint Resolution
A joint resolution was drawn-up and presented in the public symposium which followed the discussions:

The participants agree:
Tourism promotes peace and peace promotes tourism. Tourism contributes to economic growth, employment and the quality of life. A joint study on the impact of regional tourism on economic stability should be conducted.

Freedom of movement for tourists and professionals from the tourism industry, between cities, countries and throughout the region, is a necessary condition for success, and governments are urged to do their utmost to achieve this goal. 

The forum will established a working group that will deal with issues of security, freedom of movement and travel visas and raise these issues to the relevant authorities in an effort to get equal handling and facilities for all the peoples of the four parties and their visitors.

The forum will organize joint marketing activities to promote tourism to the region and between countries within the region based on equal opportunities.

The forum will cooperate within the field of human resources and vocational training, by means of exchange programs between hotel staff, tour operators and more.

The forum will hold a regional conference at least once a year, entitled: "Tourism 4 Peace Forum."

Annex I: List of Participants

EGYPT:

1.    Mr. Elhamy Elzayat, Chairman, Emeco Travel and Former President of MEMTTA  (Mediterranean and Middle East Tourist and Travel Association(

2.    Mr. Ezz El Shabrawi, President, Egyptian American Tours

3.    Mr. Alaa Hafez, Chairman, MAX Transportation

4.    Mr. Bahgat Badawi, Chairman, IMC

5.    Mr. Nabil Abdellatif, Chairman, Starco Travel

JORDAN:

6.      Mr. Abdul Hakeem Al-Hindi, Asst. Chairman of the Board and Acting Managing Director, Jordan Hotel Association

7.      Mr. Naser Riyal, Manager, Plaza Tours

8.      Mr. Salah Riyal, Sales Director, Plaza Tours

9.      Mr. Suhail Shaban, Administrative & Financial Officer, Jordan Hotel Association

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

10.  Mr. Haidar Husseini, Spokesperson Coordinating Group /ASTAP, Manager, Lawrence Tours

11.  Mr. Raed Saadeh, President, Arab Hotel Association, Managing Director, Jerusalem Hotel

12.  Mr. Yusef Daher, Executive Director, Arab Hotel Association 

13.  Mr. George Abu Aita, Board Member, Arab Hotel Association 

14.  Mr. Raji Khoury, President, Arab Tourist & Travel Agents Association

15.  Mr. Gilbert Albina, Executive Director, ASTAP

16.  Mr. Mark Khano, Owner and Manager, Guiding Star Tourist Office

17.  Mr. Habib Khoury, PPHS Coordinator, Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, Hospitality Section

18.  Mr. Fahmi Nashashibi, Owner & General Manager, Golden Walls Hotel- Jerusalem

ISRAEL:

19.  Mr. Janos Damon, Executive Director, Israel Hotel Managers Association

20.  Mr. Abraham Rosenthal, Secretary, International Hotel & Restaurant Association and Director General, Israel Hotel Association

21.  Mr. Yonathan Harpaz, Executive Director, Jerusalem Hotel Association

22.  Mr. Ami Etgar, General Manager, Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association

23.  Mr. Ady Maor, Chairman, Israel Hotel Managers Association and General Manager, Dan Panorama Tel-Aviv

24.  Ms. Rachael Goldberg, General Manager, Jerusalem Gates Hotel and former Executive Director, Jerusalem Hotel Association

25.  George Salfiti, General Manager, YMCA Jerusalem

26.  Deborah Mantzur, Director, Department of Professional Training in Tourism, Ministry of Tourism

27.  Ms. Hagit Ringel, Director, International Relations Department, Ministry of Tourism

OBSERVERS:

28.  Dr. Ron Pundak, Director General, The Peres Center for Peace

29.  Ms. Smadar Shapira, Director of the Business and Economics Unit, The Peres Center for Peace

30.  Ms. Idit Nirel, Project Manager, The Peres Center for Peace

31.  Ms. Abigail Gaines, The Peres Center for Peace

Annex II: "Regional Tourism in the Middle East - a New Era"
The public symposium that followed the discussions was attended by over 200 people (tourism professionals, journalists and the general public). Speakers, including Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Dr. Saeb Erakat, Minister of Negotiations for the Palestinian Authority, Professor Israel (Izzy) Borovich, Chairman of the Board of El Al airlines, and the representatives from the Jordanian, Egyptian, Palestinian, and Israeli tourism sectors, discussed issues involving changes and trends in tourism in the region and emphasized that joint efforts are necessary in order for the region to prosper and attract tourists.

Speech made by Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres:

Speech made by Dr. Saeb Erakat, Minister of Negotiations for the Palestinian Authority: