Israel Timeshare Could Be Solution to Overbooked Bethlehem

No, this isn’t a Christmas eve story about ‘no room in the inn.’ This is an update on the record increase in visitors and tourism in Bethlehem and the 4,500 area hotel rooms that have been booked there for this holiday season.

The West Bank Holy City of Bethlehem has already seen nearly a million and a half visitors this year and expects roughly 100,000 more by year’s end. All hotels in the area are fully booked for Christmas week. Samir Hazboun of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce attributes the influx in tourism to a more stable and improving economy. Others say the improving security and relative calm in the area is the reason for the boom in tourism.

Abdel Fattah Hamayel, Bethlehem’s governor, explains that the city has been busy decorating Bethlehem’s main streets with Christmas and New Year’s trimmings, and preparing for the religious rituals and official receptions. The governor also observed that the city had been involved in, “…gardening of trees in the main streets and at the entrances to the city, organizing traffic in the roads, where convoys will drive through and receiving the official guests, tourists and pilgrims.”

On Christmas Eve, tens of thousands of residents and visitors are expected to be in Manger Square in front of the Church of the Nativity to celebrate Christmas.

A New Face for Bethlehem Tourism

Perhaps above all else, the City of Bethlehem is trying to send two important messages to the world: they are prepared to accommodate their visitors in a standard the city considers to be of an “international level,” and they are prepared to keep their visitors safe. Regretting that in past years, visitors have come for the religious services but not remained to holiday, Hamayel says, “…we want to prove this year that we can make a good tourism and prepare for the best tourism for the future … tourism is flourishing now thanks to the new developments in hotels and other travel facilities.”

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