Bethlehem prepares for a Happy Christmas: more tourists, more hotels, but concerns remain

Record ID: 1445901

  • Title: Bethlehem prepares for a Happy Christmas: more tourists, more hotels, but concerns remain
  • Date: 3rd December 2019
  • Summary: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 30, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOT) BETHLEHEM'S CHRISTMAS TREE BEING LIT AT MANGER SQUARE NEAR THE NATIVITY CHURCH
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2019 11:59
  • Keywords: Religion Christmas Bethlehem pilgrims tourism Manger Square Palestinians
  • Location: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK
  • City: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA002B8FA8G7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As the festive decorations go up in Manger Square, Bethlehem is preparing for its best Christmas in two decades, the town's mayor and hoteliers say.
    Five new hotels are in the pipeline and existing ones are expanding. The town has even extended the opening hours of the Church of the Nativity, revered by Christians worldwide as the place of Jesus' birth.
    The manager of the Alexander Hotel in Bethlehem, Joey Canavati, said his family had nearly given up on the town during the lean years, but now had bookings through to 2021. The hotel plans to nearly double in size from 58 to 110 rooms.
    "Business has been booming... we have never seen it like this ever before," he said. "We are almost (at) 90 percent occupancy this year, we have been having tourists from all over the world, brand new markets coming in, so it's been amazing."
    But even after three years of relative peace and prosperity, people are still nervous in the small Palestinian town, a few miles south of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
    So dependent has Bethlehem become on tourist income that an upsurge of violence anywhere in the volatile Middle East - not just in its near vicinity - spells financial disaster, with nervous tour groups prone to cancelling months ahead.
    Sitting in his municipality office overlooking the newly lit Christmas tree in Manger Square, Mayor Anton Salman said 2019 looked set to improve even upon the 1.5 million visitors in 2018, which was the best year since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000 that saw years of mutual blood-letting between Israelis and Palestinians, leading tourism to collapse.
    He said he was still concerned the boom would be harmed by the regional conflicts and occasional violence. Another problem, Salman added, was the access to the Nativity church.
    The main bottleneck is the tiny front door of the church, through which pilgrims must crouch to enter. Once vast, it was reduced in size centuries ago by the Crusaders, then again during the Mamluk and Ottoman Turkish eras to prevent looters driving carts into the church.
    For the first time this year the authorities extended the church's opening hours from sunset to 8 p.m., Salman said, and in 2020 they plan to enlarge the town's coach station and to address heavy congestion on the narrow road to Manger Square. They will even consider asking tourist groups to register in advance in the future.
    But scars from the conflicts remain in plain sight - notably Israel's high concrete wall that towers over the northern entrance to Bethlehem, and separates it from Jerusalem.
    Palestinians call Israel's military barrier a land grab. Israel says the cordon of fences, ditches and walls has drastically reduced attacks on its citizens.
    (Production: Mohammad Abu Ganeyeh, Sinan Abu Mayzer, Ma'mun Wazwaz, Elana Ringler, Suheir Sheikh)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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