THE YEAR OF THE TOURIST

After staying away due to the Intifada and the Gulf War, foreign visitors are flocking back to Israel in record numbers.

By ROBERT SARNER, Israel Scene, September 1992

What a difference a year makes. Last summer, in the aftermath of the Gulf War, tourists began to slowly trickle back to Israel after having become almost an extinct species. The country’s tourism industry had been badly battered by Iraqi Scud missile attacks which began in mid-January 1991 and continued over a six-week period, frightening away visitors for months afterward.

Today, almost everywhere you look in Israel, tourists of all ages, accents and T-shirt styles are exploring, trekking, touring, shopping, visiting or otherwise just plain hanging out with carefree abandon. Such is the deluge that industry officials predict that this year Israel is well on its way to attracting a record-number of visitors.

This is quite a turnaround from when Iraq invaded Kuwait in early August 1990 and threatened to incinerate Israel. Tourists quickly found alternative destinations where they wouldn’t need to carry a gas mask with their camera.

 

Not surprisingly, 1991 proved a disaster for the tourist industry. Shortly before the Gulf War erupted early last year, every airline except El Al had stopped flying to Israel. Thousands in the hotel and service sector were laid off and the absence of tourists accentuated an already sombre, tense atmosphere.

This past summer saw the biggest wave of tourists in the country’s history. In June, 138,000 people entered the country, bringing the half-year total to a record 830,000. Current projections indicate Israel will attract 1.7 million visitors this year, surpassing the previous all-time high of 1.5 million in 1987, the last full year before the Intifada. That was a far cry from the 1950s, when an average of only 47,000 tourists arrived each year.

Tourists are, on the whole, a conservative bunch. No matter how much they may identify with the Jewish state or seek to visit a Christian or Muslim religious site in the Holy Land, most prefer to spend their holiday in a place they don’t perceive as a war zone. The continuing peace process and the election of a Labor-led, more conciliatory government headed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin have had a stabilizing effect, helping to increase tourist traffic to Israel. This rebound in tourism suggests many people’s memories of the Gulf War have already faded.

 

With its temperate climate and large number of religious, natural, archeological and cultural sites concentrated in a relatively small area, Israel has much to offer foreign visitors. An added draw in recent months were the numerous special events. The celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War and re-unification of Jerusalem, the 32nd World Zionist Congress, the Zimriya international choir festival, the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv film festivals and other events helped keep Ben Gurion Airport hopping all summer.

In recent years, amid growing hopes for a new era of regional peace on the horizon, tourism officials in Israel are starting to discuss – and even plan for – the potential dividends of such a reality. More than most, they understand how instability in the Middle East has traditionally hurt Israel’s economy as a whole, and its tourism industry in particular.

 

Although most countries like to attract hordes of free-spending tourists, Israel is especially receptive. For a country surrounded on almost all sides by hostile neighbors, visitors from afar help enhance Israel’s sense of connection to the outside world, making people feel less isolated.

New Tourism Minister Uzi Baram is upbeat about Israel’s future as a magnet for more tourism. He’s confidently predicting that more than two million people will visit Israel next year. There’s also hope that Israel’s developing economy and expanded international connections will lead to more business people from other countries coming to visit. Given growing bilateral relations with Japan, China and India, coupled with an increasing number of Christian pilgrims arriving, all signs point to a banner year in 1993. Better book your reservations soon.