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

Record ID: 1445902

  • Title: Bethlehem prepares for a Happy Christmas: more tourists, more hotels, but concerns remain
  • Date: 3rd December 2019
  • Summary: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TOURISTS ENTERING CHURCH OF NATIVITY THROUGH SMALL ENTRANCE TOURISTS IN LINE TO ENTER CHURCH OF NATIVITY VIEW OF CHURCH OF NATIVITY TOWER AND STAR ON TOP OF CHRISTMAS TREE VIEW OF CHRISTMAS TREE IN MANGER SQUARE, NEXT TO CHURCH OF NATIVITY VIEW OF ORNAMENTS ON CHRISTMAS TREE CHRISTMAS TREE IN FRONT OF CHURCH OF NATIVITY STREET SIGN FOR CHURCH OF NATIVITY AND OTHER SITES BUS CARRYING TOURISTS DRIVING THROUGH BETHLEHEM (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALEXANDER HOTEL MANAGER, JOEY CANAVATI, SAYING: "Business has been booming, you know we have never seen it like this ever before. You know, 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." TOURISTS GETTING OFF BUS TOURISTS COLLECTING THEIR LUGGAGE TOURISTS CHECKING IN AT HOTEL 'I LOVE BETHLEHEM' SIGN BUS DRIVING PAST HOTEL CONSTRUCTION SITE HOTEL UNDER CONSTRUCTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALEXANDER HOTEL MANAGER, JOEY CANAVATI, SAYING: "The number of tourists that have been coming in this year, we have a huge lack of rooms here in Bethlehem. So this is our plan, we have a land behind the hotel, we are hoping to start in March the digging of the foundation of this new building, to add another 50 rooms to our hotel here in Bethlehem." BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS NEXT TO THE CHURCH OF NATIVITY ENTRANCE MAN TAKING PHOTOS WITH SMARTPHONE TOURISTS POSING FOR PHOTO WITH MANGER SQUARE CHRISTMAS TREE IN THE BACKGROUND WOMAN FILMING WITH SMARTPHONE TOURISTS POSING FOR PHOTO IN FRONT OF CHRISTMAS TREE (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST FROM GERMANY, JACOB LANG, SAYING: "I think the atmosphere here is nice. I have only been here for two days now, but so far I have had a very peaceful experience, people seem very helpful and very welcoming as well." CHRISTMAS TREE STAR ON TOP OF CHRISTMAS TREE / MOON IN SKY TOURISTS POSING FOR PICTURE IN FRONT OF CHRISTMAS TREE (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST FROM GERMANY, SARAH, SAYING: "Actually, I am here travelling through Israel, and I have always known that when I want to come to Israel that I also want to visit Bethlehem because I have heard a lot about it, I have read about it and I just want to get to know it by myself." BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HOTEL SIGN READING (English): "JACIR PALACE HOTEL" VARIOUS OF CHRISTIAN SOUVENIRS OUTSIDE SHOP CRUCIFIX DISPLAYED OUTSIDE SHOP VIEW OF CHURCH OF NATIVITY AND CHRISTMAS TREE FROM INSIDE THE OFFICE OF BETHLEHEM'S MAYOR, ANTON SALMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM, ANTON SALMAN, SAYING: "When we speak about a tourist destination like Bethlehem, usually a city like Bethlehem in the Middle East (is) affected from what is going around and for that, for the city, always, we have the fear that the situation maybe have dropped down and it will damage the programs of the city." PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE OF CHURCH STATUE OUTSIDE CHURCH EXTERIOR OF NATIVITY CHURCH, CHRISTMAS TREE ON MANGER'S SQUARE BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) CROSS ON TOP OF CHURCH OF NATIVITY TOWER
  • 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: LVA001B8FA8G7
  • 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)
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