Bahrain promotes pearling past at the Pearling Path

You can find the Isa Bin Ali House, home of the former ruler of Bahrain, along the Pearling Path. — Arabbi/Wikipedia

On and around the southernmost point of Muharraq city, close to Bahrain’s capital Manama, the Pearling Path is at its final stages of renovation to offer visitors by the end of 2022 a brand new experience of the country’s past glory, built on the pearl industry.

The historical Pearling Path was inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List in 2012.

To date, 16 public squares, two visitors’ centres, a pedestrian bridge and the rehabilitation of the Souq Al Qaisariya, the oldest part of the Muharraq Souq in the Pearling Path, have been completed, Mai Mohammed Al Khalifa, president of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, said.

“One of the main ambitions of the project is to promote a cultural tourism in Bahrain, as a way to celebrate the country’s rich culture and heritage, both tangible and intangible,” she explained.

Fijiri music, a unique form of singing practised on board the pearling expedition boats by Bahrainis, is the intangible highlight of the Pearling Path, noted Al Khalifa, adding Fijiri was added to the Unesco intangible heritage list in 2021.

“This special combination of tangible and intangible cultural experiences... makes Muharraq a unique destination and will contribute to the growing cultural tourism sector in Bahrain’s economy,” she concluded.

In addition to the Pearling Path project, the establishment of the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (Danat) in 2017 is the kingdom’s other effort to promote and even resurrect Bahrain’s ancient pearling.

Specialising in the testing and studying of natural pearls, Danat has examined more than 10 million pearls since its establishment, an achievement that the institute announced in November last year. This solidifies its position as the world’s most prominent laboratory for testing pearls.

“With the establishment of Danat, we have managed to boost the kingdom’s reputation as the centre of pearl trading and to position ourselves as the leading country in pearl certification,” Danat chief executive officer Noora Jamsheer said.

Instead of oil and gas, pearling represents Bahrain’s traditional national identity and had been the central pillar of the Gulf tiny country’s economy until its demise in the 1930s.

Safe wedding destination

Elsewhere, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said plans were underway to promote the country as a safe wedding destination amid the Covid-19 pandemic, local media reported recently.

The move will not only help uplift the nation’s hardest-hit tourism industry but will also strengthen event management, fashion design and other supporting sectors that were impacted by the pandemic.

SLTDA chairperson Kimarli Fernando was quoted by the media report as saying that the SLTDA will soon launch a separate portal to support the endeavour.

Fernando said efforts would be taken to list event management companies, wedding planners, photographers, fashion designers and others under one platform so that the experience of having a wedding in Sri Lanka for foreign nationals can be convenient and accessible.

Sri Lanka’s tourism authority will also strengthen its relations with countries in the region such as India, the Maldives and Pakistan to promote the nation as a wedding destination.

Market analysis shows that the destination wedding global market will generate revenue of over US$290bil (RM1.214tril) by 2031. – Xinhua