Israel prepares for wave of Muslim tourists

There are about a billion and a half Muslims in the world, yet only several thousand of them visit the holy sites in Jerusalem each year. The Abraham Accords signed in 2020 between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan constitute a tremendous opportunity to change that picture.

By contrast, the reverse direction is much more active: Tens of thousands of Israelis (almost 70,000 in December alone, before the COVID-19 lockdown reached Dubai) are already visiting tourist sites in the countries that signed these normalization agreements. Direct flights with Etihad Airways are expected to open in the very near future from Dubai to Tel Aviv — this was announced last November, but it was delayed due to COVID-19 closures.

The two countries, Israel and the Emirates, are world leaders regarding the quick pace of their vaccination programs; this enables the mutual opening of both countries to tourists. Eli Harel, who escorted Israeli groups this week in Dubai, said all the Emirate travel agents he is in contact with ask him for details and information regarding the opposite direction: Muslim tourism in Israel.

In fact, Israel’s Tourism Ministry has been busy in recent months making hectic preparations and doing research toward marketing Israel as a potential target for Muslim tourists from Arab countries.