"Eilat can serve as a convenient platform for having ecological tourism,", according to Professor Yoel Mansfeld, director of the Centre for Tourism Study at Haifa University.  He is holding a series of workshops in Eilat to raise environmental awareness among tourists and the local business community to transform tourism in Eilat into a lever for conservation of natural treasures and the environment.  Later on a joint lobby of the Eilat Municipality and tourism businesses will arise to act toward promotion of this issue as a national project and as a pilot in various government bureaus: Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Infrastructures, etc.

Ecotourism emphasises the correct use of natural resources, planning of tourism sites so that they fit into the environment and cause minimal harm, frugal use of water, electricity, and energy, reducing quantities of waste, re-use and recycling, planting flora appropriate for the region that uses little water and provides shade, adopting policies of purchasing only environmentally friendly items such as cleaning and laundry products, food and beverage, office equipment, furniture, cosmetics, construction and renovation, reducing use of toxic and dangerous substances, instruction of employees and holding explanatory activities for visitors, maintaining cleanliness and cultivating the site, and more.

The principles of ecotourism defines the companies and entities acting in this area as profit-oriented entities that promote the local economy while reducing damage on the one hand while increasing profits on the other, while at the same time promoting environmental interests for the community and its environs.

The development of ecotourism through out the world is accelerating and it is growing faster than any other area of tourism.  As a result of this growing universal trend and the growth in public awareness regarding ecology and environmental conservation, and because of Eilat's ecological, climatic and geographical uniqueness, the city of Eilat can serve as a convenient platform for ecological tourism that will differentiate it and make it unique in its competition with neighbours and competitors," explains Prof. Yoel Mansfeld, adding that if this understanding is welcomed among the Eilati hoteliers and tourism businesses, they will be presented with tools for applying it in the field.

It should be noted that a year ago the Environmental Unit began a process of ‘greening up' two hotels in Eilat, Isrotel Agamim and Hilton Queen of Sheba.  A preliminary survey was carried out in these hotels, designated to give information on the environmental matters affecting the hotel, to pinpoint matters to take care of and improve, and to order priorities and schedules for implementation.  After the survey the hotels will set themselves goals and a mechanism to track implementation of the programme, will impress the matter on their employees, and will learn lessons and draw conclusions and set new goals.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Environmental Protection are gearing up to define a ‘green label' to be conferred on those hotels that will lead in ecotourism.  The Geocartography Company was selected to carry out a study to determine criteria for the ‘green label'.  After receiving and approving its findings, an official ‘green tag' will be conferred on those hotels that meet the criteria set, and they are expected to achieve economic advantages through an enhanced image, their positioning, and their marketing and advertising ability in Israel and worldwide.

As explained by Yael Edri, the project coordinator for the Regional Environment Unit, "Ecotourism, or sustainable tourism as it's called, is a more balanced tourism that takes the physical and human environment into consideration while meeting economic needs and conserving the area's natural resources.  We believe that the city of Eilat, situated in the very heart of an amazing desert and marine nature reserve and with an economy based primarily on tourism, needs to also be the city leading the ‘green' revolution in Israel and assimilate sustainable tourism in practice for our sake and for that of succeeding generations."

Prof. Mansfeld is holding a four part series of workshops in Eilat.  One was held on Sunday 23 November and the next three will be on succeeding Sundays at 16:00, held at the Ecological Dome off Jerusalem St.  Three meetings are on theory and the fourth is practical, dealing with subjects such as architecture, design, alternative energy, and will include a tour to ecological sites in the Edom Valley.  The workshops, funded by the Environmental Protection Ministry and Eilat Municipality, are free of charge.