A $58 million contract to foster Palestinian economic development -- which includes plans to help steer tourists away from Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza -- was awarded yesterday by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor reported (April 20, 2011) last spring: Despite the richness and variety of sites across Palestinian land, "the vast majority of religious tourists confine their visits to brief visits to the religious sites in Bethlehem. Since tourists often visit Bethlehem and then return to Jerusalem, they often spend little or no money in Palestine," the RFP...
