Jerusalem, Bethlehem: Tourism reels from Israel-Hamas war during busy period for pilgrimages

16.10.2023 - 23:47 / euronews.com / Airlines

Two weeks ago, the main square and streets around Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity were bustling with tourists.

Now they are empty after a devastating attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas in Israel on 7 October.

"Business is at a standstill since the war started," said Essa Abu Dawoud, a tour guide in the Palestinian city. "The roads were cut off, no one is coming."

Across Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, hotels have emptied and at least six companies have stopped trips to top destinations like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as the conflict escalated.

Two tour operators have called off trips until next year.

Cruise ships are avoiding Israel's once-bustling shores and major airlines have stopped flying to and from Israel, while governments have scrambled to get their citizens home.

easyJet says it has cancelled all packages to Tel Aviv due to depart before 22 October, while Virgin Atlantic Holidays has let holidaymakers rebook for later dates or get a refund if they're travelling before 18 October.

The assault by Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by the US, EU and other governments - on Israeli communities on 7 October killed more than 1,400 people.

Israel has intensified its strikes on Hamas' stronghold Gaza in retaliation, killing nearly 2,700 people.

InterContinental Hotels said two of its hotels, Six Senses Shaharut and Hotel Indigo Tel Aviv - Diamond District, were temporarily shut. It has seen some cancellations and some customers moving bookings to later in the year.

With most of its hotels empty, one of Israel's top chains, Isrotel, was "on the verge" of temporarily closing some, a spokesperson said.

The exodus of foreign visitors is a big blow to Israel's lucrative tourism industry, one of the country's biggest, as it was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector accounts for 2.8 per cent of GDP and about 3.5 per cent of total employment.

The coming months are the busiest of the year for Christian pilgrimages arriving from the US, UK and elsewhere in Europe.

"We rely on tourism for living. We had the COVID crisis and we were still recovering and slowly waiting for the tourists to come back," said Khader Hussein, 30, a souvenir seller in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

"Now the tourism sector is dead."

Drawn by historical sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and Tel Aviv's white sandy beaches, some three million tourists flocked to Israel in the first nine months of this year, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.

That's close to pre-pandemic levels, and included about 800,000 Americans.

A day after the attack, Israel's ministry of tourism said tours should be avoided and tourists should stay in their hotels or on