Tourism in Bethlehem booming as Christmas nears
Bethlehem is enjoying its busiest Christmas season on record, the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism said on Monday, with hotels in the town of the birthplace of Jesus almost fully booked for the holiday.
Tourism has recovered following a fall in knife and car-ramming terrorist attacks, which pushed visitor numbers to a 10-year low in 2015. Bethlehem store owners also said they benefited from a surge of visitors to during Israel’s 70th anniversary year.
Filing past a sixteen-meter Christmas tree in Manger Square, lines of pilgrims squeezed through the narrow sandstone entrance to Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, a centuries-old basilica whose grotto, Christians believe, is where Jesus was born.
“We have never received this number of tourists coming to Palestine,” said Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Ma’ayah. “Especially in a city like Bethlehem, tourism creates waves throughout the economy.”
Hotel occupancy rates in Bethlehem are expected to exceed 95% by the end of December, the city’s hoteliers’ association said.
“We are fully booked during the Christmas season,” said Wissam Salsa, Manager of the Walled Off Hotel, a quirky Bethlehem guesthouse designed by the British street artist Banksy. “But of course, our hotel is fully occupied all of the time,” Salsa added. “It is in the West Bank.”
The hotel overlooks a towering concrete section of the separation barrier that Israel has built to stop suicide bombings. Some Palestinians complain that it loops around Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank, where they want to establish a state.
Some American pilgrims in Bethlehem seemed to regard their visit as a continuation of a tour through Israel, rather than a trip to a Palestinian city.
“Coming to Israel has always been on my bucket list,” said Robyn Jackson, 36, a travel adviser from Phoenix, Arizona who was shopping for souvenirs in a Bethlehem street leading to Manger Square. “Being in Bethlehem and all the places where Jesus walked is amazing.”
For one group of American travelers, Israel’s anniversary – together with US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to open an embassy there – was certainly a factor.
“I think excitement has been stirred because of the embassy move,” said Keith Jiles, 55, a pastor from Atlanta, Georgia.
“People had been afraid in the past to come. But excitement has built. And you’re gonna see more tourism because of it,” he said.
Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem delighted Israelis but infuriated Palestinians and their allies, who warned that a unilateral move could lead to turmoil and hamper US efforts to restart long-stalled peace talks.