Posted on 07/14/2014 8:45:43 AM PDT by Star Traveler
The year 2014 was gearing up to be the best ever in Israel’s history for incoming tourism, with estimates of arrivals climbing 10% from last year’s 2.96 million. In a few short days, however, Operation Protective Edge has put an end to that.
“Until the first siren in Tel Aviv, everything was normal. The day after the first siren, a few tourists left the hotels here and there, but a lot fewer than during Operation Pillar of Defense,” said Eli Ziv, director of the Tel Aviv Hotel Association, referring to Israel’s November 2012 military operation in the Gaza Strip. “I remember that after Pillar of Defense there was a massive departure after the first siren, so relative to that were pleasantly surprised. The great majority of people stayed and did not shorten their vacations.”
The problem, Ziv said, echoing his colleagues, is that the cancellations have started — first a few, then more, mainly for the next few weeks. For later dates, there have been few cancellations --so far. Some tourists have asked to postpone their reservations for a few weeks, expecting things to quiet down again, he said. Occupancy rates this weekend at his hotels were 67% in Tel Aviv, compared with an average of 77%.
The real question in evaluating the damage to tourism is how long Operation Protective Edge will continue. Ziv said Israelis will return to the hotels as soon as the situation calms down -- and probably in even larger numbers -- but foreign tourism typically takes more than six months to recover, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Our church is sponsoring a trip to the Holy Land this fall. Our former associate pastor is leading it. We are not going. Prayers for those who do.
This round will be over by Fall ... :-) ...
Maybe...
Israel can’t afford to have all those reservists called up and mobilized that long.
Ask yourself how long the USA could afford to call up and mobilize TWO MILLION SOLDIERS inside the USA and have them “sitting around”. That’s the equivalent amount that Israel has called up, in relation to its population.
Why do you think Israel had a SIX DAY WAR ... they couldn’t afford a longer one ... :-) ...
That was then; this is now. Weapons are more deadly and the other side has them too. We thought that Israel would take out Saddam, or Assad, too. Never happened. My heart is heavy.
Personally, I was considering visiting Israel this August. Have decided on Spain instead. Will wait on Israel for things to settle down.
If someone wants to pay for my trip, I’ll go! (been there 3 times, including during the 2006 rocket bombardment.
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