Roundup: Int'l tourism conference wraps up in Bethlehem

The World Tourism Organization (WTO) wrapped up Tuesday a two-day conference with immense success, officials said.

Jeryes Qamseya, spokesman of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism, told Xinhua that the conference attained its goals and created a substantial manifestation for the activation of tourism in Palestine.

For the first time ever, the WTO held in Palestinian territories and the Middle East a conference in the holy city of Bethlehem to encourage and activate religious tourism in Palestinian territories.

"Conference participation was extensive and compelling, with International figures joining and it succeeded as planned and gave rise to recommendations," said Qamseya.

Around 70 countries and over 100 International figures, including eight foreign and tourism ministers, joined the two-day conference.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization sponsored the two-day conference entitled "Sustainable Religious Tourism."

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah addressed the conference opening ceremony.

"I am proud to hold the conference in Bethlehem on our Palestinian lands as symbols of forgiveness and coexistence intermix. This international UN event is held for the very first time in Palestinian territories and is the first World Tourism Organization held here," he said.

Hamdallah expressed hope that the conference will not be the only first step towards encouraging and reactivating tourism in Palestine, "but also serve as protection of our holy land and archeological sites from Israel, currently controlling and desecrating it."

The prime minister called for unifying efforts, especially UNESCO and other international heritage organizations and associations to protect Palestinian heritage from theft and losing its integrity.

Palestinians complain that Israel is depriving them from historical and archeological sites and through propaganda which asserts that these sites belong to Israeli tourism sites. Hamdallah said these measures prove that Israel is attempting to forge history and violate signed bilateral agreements.

The World Tourism Organization chose the West Bank to hold the conference once Palestinians upgraded their diplomatic presence in the UN to a non-member observer state in 2012.

Rula Maa'yaa, the Palestinian tourism minister, told Xinhua that she is proud this conference is being held in Palestine for the very first time.

"Holding this conference here qualifies Palestine as an attractive world destination," she said, adding "the significance of this conference is that it is being held for the very first time in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem by the UN and it is the first of its kind in the Middle East."

Maa'yaa said the two-day conference agenda included a variety of workshops and mini-conferences related to encouraging and reactivating religious tourism in the Middle East, especially in Palestine and the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

She said that the conference is expected to serve and support the intensive Palestinian efforts to reactivate religious tourism in Palestine.

Every year, around 2 million tourists visit Bethlehem, considered one of the most ancient cities in the world. The city's Church of the Nativity is one of the oldest churches worldwide.

Samir Abdullah, a West Bank economist, told Xinhua that Palestinian efforts to encourage religious tourism in Palestinian territories are important, adding "holding the conference in Bethlehem is quite beneficial and will serve Palestinians."

"Palestinian tourism represents 19 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), therefore encouraging and reactivating tourism in Palestine would definitely help the economy to develop and increase the Palestinian treasury's income," he said. Endite