Britain advises against all but essential travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories
Jerusalem:
Early this month, the main square and streets around the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem were bustling with tourists. Now they stand empty after a devastating attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israel on October 7.
“Things have been at a standstill since the start of the war,” said Essa Abu Dawoud, a tour guide in the Palestinian city. “The roads are closed, no one comes.”
Across Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, hotels have emptied and at least six companies have halted travel to top destinations such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as the conflict escalated. Two tour operators have canceled their trips until next year.
Cruise ships are avoiding Israel’s once-busy coasts and major airlines have stopped flying to and from Israel as governments scramble to get their citizens home.
easyJet says it has canceled all packages to Tel Aviv departing before October 22, while Virgin Atlantic Holidays has allowed holidaymakers to book for later dates or get a refund if they travel before October 18.
The attack by Hamas – designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and other governments – on Israeli communities on October 7 killed at least 1,300 people. Most were civilians, including children.
Israel has intensified its attacks on Hamas stronghold Gaza in retaliation.
InterContinental Hotels said two of its hotels, Six Senses Shaharut and Hotel Indigo Tel Aviv – Diamond District, were temporarily closed. There have been some cancellations and some customers have moved bookings to later in the year.
With most hotels empty, Isrotel, one of Israel’s top chains, was “on the verge” of temporarily closing some, a spokesman said.
The exodus of foreign visitors is a major blow to Israel’s lucrative tourism industry, one of the country’s largest, which has been recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector accounts for 2.8% of GDP and approximately 3.5% of total employment.
The coming months will be the busiest of the year for Christian pilgrimages from the United States, Britain and elsewhere in Europe.
“We depend on tourism for a living. We had the COVID crisis and we were still recovering and slowly waiting for the tourists to return,” said Khader Hussein, 30, a souvenir seller in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
“Now the tourism industry is dead.”
Attracted by historic sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and the white-sand beaches of Tel Aviv, some three million tourists flocked to Israel in the first nine months of this year, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.
That’s close to pre-pandemic levels and included about 800,000 Americans.
PROLONGED CONFLICT
A day after the attack, Israel’s Tourism Ministry said tours should be avoided and tourists should stay in their hotels or on cruise ships.
On Wednesday it said that tourists can move around the country if necessary. There were more than 90,000 tourists in Israel and thousands had visited national attractions in the past week, the report said.
But on the same day, the U.S. government raised its travel warning for Israel and the West Bank to Level 3 or “reconsider travel,” the second-highest level.
Britain advises against all but essential travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Elias al-Arja, the head of the Arab Hotel Association, said most hotels in the West Bank helped tourists flee in the past week after the violence started.
About 90% of hotels in the West Bank are vacant, he said.
Dan Hotels and Isrotel said they were providing rooms for people fleeing the Gaza border. Dan also offers a 50% discount on rooms for locals.
With no resolution to the conflict in sight, it is unclear when foreign visitors will return.
Travel group Authentic Israel has asked tourists booked for their canceled trips to donate $150 each to support staff during the crisis.
Australian tour operator Intrepid Travel has canceled trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories until the end of the year.
Odysseys Unlimited has suspended its trips to Israel until March 31. The US company said it would continue tours in Egypt and Jordan, but has given guests the option to move to a later date or another destination.
Some are moving the schedule to next year, the report said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)