February 1, 2012, Updated September 11, 2012

Take Israel’s tennis star Shahar Peer add Britain’s No. 1 Elena Baltacha and then splice in world No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska and the result is great tennis in Eilat for the next four days.

The Fed Cup Women’s Tennis games kicks off today at the Red Sea Tennis Center in Eilat, which was built especially for the games.

Unlike standard tennis matches, Fed Cup offers players the chance to play on a team for their country.

It’s the second consecutive year that Israel is hosting the European-African zone group. Fifteen countries will be represented at the Red Sea event.

In related news, the Ministry of Tourism says it will invest nearly $7 million in 2012 on marketing Eilat as a sports, tourism, and vacation resort, based on the new branding of the city “Eilat+”.

“The city of Eilat, whose economic revenue is largely based on tourism, must continue to develop the tourism industry, by building hotels, new attractions and businesses, holding events that will attract tourists and building the physical and personnel infrastructures that will assist Eilat compete in the tourism arena,” said Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov. “The Ministry of Tourism is obligated to the city of Eilat and its citizens and will continue collaboration with various officials in order to strengthen the positioning of Eilat as a leading attractive tourist resort in Israel”.

Read more: