The explosion of violence across the Palestinian territories has dashed Israel's hopes of a heaven-sent tourism bonanza in the Holy Land during the millennium year.
"The last quarter of the year should have been the best ever in the history of Israel for the tourism industry," with pilgrims from around the world flocking in the year 2000 to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, said Ami Edgar of the Tour Operators Association in Israel.
In October alone, which has seen violent clashes daily between Israeli troops and Palestinian rioters, the number of tourists has sunk to between 30 and 50 percent below forecasts, tourism ministry spokeswoman Nitsan Ilan said.
"The situation is worrying," she said. "Tourists started to cancel their trips or delay their arrival dates as soon as they saw the images of violence on the television."
The Palestinian uprising flared after a visit on September 28 by hardline Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the al-Aqsa mosque compound inside Jerusalem's walled Old City, a hotly contested site holy to both Muslims and Jews.
Since then, some 140 people have been killed, most of them Palestinians, in street battles and gunfights broadcast around the world that have set the West Bank and Gaza Strip ablaze.
Israel was hoping for the number of tourists to swell to 3.2 million in 2000, with pilgrims expected to follow in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II who toured the region in March.
But the figures are now seen at some 2.5 million, little more than 1999, and the tourism ministry expects the industry to suffer losses of around half a billion dollars in the final quarter of the year.
The United States, the biggest market for Israel, on Tuesday issued a travel warning urging its citizens to defer all travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza because of a "heightened threat of terrorist incidents."
Pilgrims are staying away from several must-see Palestinian-ruled towns -- such as Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus according to Christian tradition, and the world's oldest city of Jericho -- because of the dangers.
"There was a drastic drop in the number of tourists in 1996 and 1997 following a wave of attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv but for two years everything was calm and the peace process was progressing," Ilan said.
Ten days ago Air France cancelled one of its two daily flights to Tel Aviv and is not filling even one plane a day, said the head of the company in Israel Jean-Paul Rolin.
Israel's national carrier El Al has registered a 10 percent decline in passengers because of the unrest and may consider canceling some flights if the violence persists, said spokesman Nachman Klieman.
The climate also prompted Spanish basketball team Real Madrid to cancel a European cup match in Jerusalem due to have taken place Thursday.
Already, Israel's hotels have been shedding staff many of whom in any case work on a seasonal basis.
The Hilton Hotel in Jerusalem, favored by VIPs, is operating at just 35 percent occupancy at a time it expected to be turning away customers.
"We have reduced the working hours of each employee, some have taken their holidays and we have also got rid of some seasonal employees," said press spokeswoman Irit Gazit.
The cobbled streets of the Old City with its wealth of history, religious shrines and tourist paraphernalia are empty, and the Palestinian shopkeepers can hardly be bothered to hassle the few tourists passing by.
"I usually make 500 dollars a day, now I hardly get 20," complained souvenir seller Louay Mubayed. "I can last another two or three months like this, not more," he added.â
The tourism ministry is preparing a grand publicity campaign to repair the damage.
"But we are holding off for the moment because we don't want to send too optimistic a message when the situation still has not stabilized," Ilan said -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
