You'd pass this up to go to Hawaii, instead?
Posted on 09/07/2001 1:50:45 PM PDT by Dog Gone
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's tourism industry has lost billions of dollars in the 11 months since Israel-Palestinian fighting broke out, and the downturn has forced 30 hotels to close, officials said Friday.
Many hotels have had almost no guests, said Nitzan Ilan, spokeswoman for the Israeli Tourism Ministry. Some of the hotels may temporarily be converted into offices or dormitories for immigrants, she said.
Tourism plunged 53 percent during the first six months of 2001, compared to the same period last year, according to ministry figures. The industry has lost $2 billion since fighting erupted Sept. 28.
Tourism amounts to nearly 10 percent of Israel's gross national product.
Many Western governments have warned their citizens not to travel to Israel and the Palestinian areas because of the violence that has killed more than 600 people on the Palestinian side and more than 160 on the Israeli side.
Hotels on the shores of the Dead Sea have an additional concern. Gigantic sinkholes caused by the drying up of the sea have begun appearing around its shores, causing the collapse of roads and structures built above them.
Yossi Yehieli of the Geological Institute told the Yediot Ahronot daily that three sinkholes have formed in the yards of Dead Sea hotels in recent months.
``The danger threatens all the hotels along the shore and the main road running along the Dead Sea,'' Yehieli said. Some buildings at the nearby communal farm of Ein Gedi have been damaged by such holes, he said.
The government has established a special committee to study the problem and recommend any necessary action, the Tourism Ministry said.
However, Ilan, the ministry spokeswoman, said there appeared to be no danger to the hotels at this point. She denied sinkholes had formed on hotel property.
The holes are caused when the salt water recedes. As fresh water replaces the salt water, the salts in the ground dissolve, causing the earth to collapse.
FMCDH
Think I'll pass.
You'd pass this up to go to Hawaii, instead?
"If I could," I answer.
"So what makes you think you're the center of the universe?"
"Hell!" I say. "I'm gonna shake the dust of the crummy little town off my feet, and I'm gonna see the world!"
...As if I hadn't seen it so many times already, with you.
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