Tourism and Israel– Arab Normalization Processes: The Case of Israel, Morocco, and the UAE

Abstract

The Iran factor and the USA’s role as a mediator are cited as notable factors contributing to the Israel–Arab rapprochement that led to the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020. These explanations mainly help understand the factors contributing toward the normalization and suggest that economic incentives and tourism are significant factors in sustaining the normalization in the cases of Israel–Morocco and Israel–UAE. By using the theory of tourism diplomacy, the article shows that since the Abraham Accords, tourism has been used by the governments of Israel, Morocco, and the UAE to maintain positive relations; an emotional tourism campaign through pilgrimages and saint veneration is used to promote tourism flow, especially in the case of Morocco; and tourism played a significant role in stabilizing Israel’s relations with the UAE and Morocco. This carries important policy implications for the future normalization process that tourism can play a major political tool used by Israel and Arab countries to maintain positive relations.