BAHRAINI divers have been sharing secrets of the country’s historic pearling trade with people in Tunisia, in a bid to persuade more people to visit.
They travelled to the capital city Tunis with more than 1,000 Bahraini oysters, which had been specially harvested for the trip.
While there they trained Tunisian travel agents how professionals shuck, or open, oysters and search for precious pearls inside.
They were drawing on thousands of years of knowledge handed down through generations of Bahrainis, with the country’s pearls mentioned in Assyrian texts as long ago as 2,000BC – when Bahrain was the capital of the Dilmun civilisation.
The aim was to promote Bahrain’s rich history and market the country as a potential holiday destination for people from Tunisia.
Dilmun Friends, which brings together tour guides in Bahrain, organised the visit to support government efforts to invigorate the tourist sector.
“Tour guides in Bahrain have a deep insight and knowledge about civilisations in Bahrain, especially the Dilmun civilisation,” said Dilmun Friends president and Arab Federation of Tourist Guides regional representative Mirza Al Nasheet.
“The aim was to get them to meet travel agents from Tunisia and share that knowledge to get them interested in our country’s heritage, history and culture.
“We have organised similar tours in Egypt and Oman, but this trip was special because we added new events – including a session in which some of the tour guides, who are also divers, showed Tunisians how to open oysters that are likely to have pearls inside them.
“The session was praised by many and everyone got to try opening the shells.
“They said they never got the opportunity to do that before.
“We carried over 1,000 oysters with us from Bahrain for that purpose.
“Pearls that were found in the oysters were distributed to the attendees.
“Mementos bearing the name of Bahrain were also given out.”
Around 45 Tunisian travel agents took part in the programme, during which they were also briefed on Bahrain’s history going back 4,000 years.
A lecture on the Dilmun civilisation was given by Bahrain Historical and Archaeology Society studies and archaeological research president Dr Abdulaziz Suwaileh.
Meanwhile, the Bahraini travel operators were given tours of some of Tunisia’s top tourism sites including Bardo National Museum, the Great Mosque of Kairouan, the Medina of Tunis and Sidi Bou Said town.
The initiative was organised in co-operation with the Tunisian Tourism and Handicraft Ministry, the Tunisian Embassy in Bahrain and Arab Federation of Tourist Guides.
“I discussed the role played by Bahrain as a communication centre between Dilmun, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley civilisation and Majan (Oman),” said Mr Suwaileh.
“It was great to see many people interacting.
“Much of the information shared was not known to many of the Tunisians who attended.
“The programme in general allowed participants to exchange knowledge and the society will be soon hosting some of the great personalities we met so they can hold some lectures about Tunisia’s heritage and history here in Bahrain.”
A trip from Tunisia to Bahrain, planned by Tunisian tour operators, is currently being planned as a result of the programme and will also include visits to Oman and the UAE.
Dilmun Friends was established in 2010 and operates under the Bahrain Historical and Archaeology Society.
It has 42 licensed tour guides, 80 per cent of whom are Bahrainis.
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