03 July 2014
H.E Minister of Culture Visits Seville and Discusses Cooperation
From Seville, the capital of the region Andalucía and one of the most romantic cities in Europe with a mixture of Roman reminiscences and Moorish traditions, is where H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Culture, chose to start her official city visit journey. The Minister of Culture, accompanied by a Bahraini delegation including Dr. Heba Abdul-Aziz, the Ministry’s Counselor for Tourism Affairs, and Dr. Elie Flouty, the Ministry’s Media Adviser, met with the Governor of Seville, as well as other Spanish officials. H.E also met with representatives of a leading sightseeing tourist company, which has visited Bahrain before. The Minister of Culture is expected to give a press conference to showcase the richness of the Bahraini tourist and cultural sites and to highlight Bahrain's unique landmarks.
Ways of boosting bilateral cooperation in the tourism field were also discussed during a sightseeing tour of the city’s most prominent attractions. Indeed, Spain’s Seville UNESCO’s Sites of monumental significance include three buildings—the Seville Cathedral, Alcazar, and Archivo de Indias. The Minister of Culture reviewed with her Spanish counterparts the possibilities available to push cooperation forward with regard to tourist bus excursions in Bahrain given the increase of tourists and visitors to the Kingdom of Bahrain, which boasts 112 hotels and accommodated around 1.2 million visitors in 2013.
This cooperation comes as the result of the official talks between His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and the Spanish Monarch His Majesty King Juan Carlos. H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa met the Spanish Industry, Energy and Tourism Minister Jose Manuel Soria Lopez to discuss tourism strategies and explore new bilateral areas of cooperation. Then both ministers held a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on enhancing tourism cooperation between Bahrain and Spain, the aim of which is to promote investments on both sides continuing the success of the Manama Capital of Arab Tourism, 2013 and Manama Asian Tourism City 2014. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) highlighted the importance of developing joint strategies to support tourism in both countries based on successful experiences, while continuing to develop coordination and cooperation. According to various surveys and rankings based on tourism quality, Spain is one of the most appreciated countries in the world. The Minister of Culture has reiterated Bahrain’s keenness to tap the booming Spanish tourism market and strengthen tourism, promotion, and cooperation between the two destinations.
