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Israel
International Tourism Fair To Follow Christmas In Bethlehem
Jerusalem ---- December 24, 2009 ..... Over 30 countries will be participating in the Israel International Tourism Fair, IMTM 2010. This year for the first time Japan, Portugal, Estonia and Vietnam will be participating with their own national booths, alongside many other countries including: Italy, Panama, Croatia, Brazil, Croatia, Turkey, Slovenia, Tenerife - Spain, Bulgaria, Georgia, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Korea, Romania, South Africa, Thailand, India, Ukraine, Belorussia, and Tanzania. In addition, there will be dozens of tourism and vacation entities from Israel who will introduce the Israel market to all the innovations and attractions of the coming year, to encourage domestic tourism. The Israel International Tourism Fair will be open to the general public, free of charge. During the Israel International Tourism Fair there will also be a number of professional conferences, including a meeting between travel agents and journalists on the subject of the Dead Sea, the 5th annual conference of the Center for Academic Studies, this year on: Innovation and Creativity in the Tourism Industry in Israel 2010 and a special conference for HR and welfare managers. “This year, as we approach the end of the financial crisis, there has been a sharp increase in domestic tourism and outgoing tourism," said Eyal Shmueli, publisher and editor in chief of Israel Travel News magazine and one of the founders of IMTM. "Many Israelis no longer see going on vacation as a luxury, but as an integral part of their lives. Each year dozens of countries want to come to Israel to participate in the tourism fair, expressing their faith in the Israeli tourist and his spending power. We receive many requests from travel agents and tour operators from abroad who want to attend the fair, meet and get to know Israeli professionals, work with them and do deals.” IMTM is the main annual event of the tourist industry in Israel, and is aimed at encouraging incoming, outgoing and domestic tourism in Israel, and increasing cooperation with many countries around the world. This is the 16th consecutive year that the fair has been held. Alongside the foreign countries, there will also be Israel representatives – tourist boards from all around the country, airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, and tourist service suppliers. The fair is organized by Ortra Ltd. and Israel Travel News, and is sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, the Israel Hotels Association, the Israel Tourist and Travel Agents Association and the Tel Aviv - Jaffa Tourism Association. In related news it will be a festive Christmas again in Bethlehem. Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are doing their best to develop the tourist industry in this city. While the number of visitors to the West Bank doubled to 2 million this year, revenue rose 41 percent to $550 million, Palestinian Tourism Minister Khouloud Daibes said. The aim is to increase that income by at least 50 percent in 2010 by persuading people to stay for more nights and spend more money, she said. “We aren’t tapping into the potential,” Daibes, 44, who presided over the opening of five new hotels this week, said in an interview at her office in Bethlehem. “Most important for 2010 is offering our visitors the best service and most unique experience." “A fruitful cooperation between us, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan can lead to more jobs and prosperity and benefit all of us,” Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said at a Dec. 16 press conference. “We can build peace through tourism in this entire region.” Hotels in Bethlehem were fully booked for Christmas, with 10 percent higher occupancy than last year, said Samir Hazboun, head of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Visitors congregated before Christmas at the Church of Nativity, listening to guides before ducking into the low entrance to the shrine where Jesus was believed to have been born. To enter Bethlehem, visitors must pass through an Israel military security checkpoint created to provide security for both Israel and Palestinian civilians against Islamic terror attacks. In April 2002 armed Palestinian Arab terrorists forced their way into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of Christianity's most sacred sites, the birthplace of Christ. The Islamic terrorists held hostage over 200 nuns and priests as they desecrated this Holy Christian site. Only Israel restraint and respect for the Christian shrine prevented the Palestinian desecration from turning into its total destruction. After the IDF forced the Islamic terrorists to leave the church, the IDF was invited inside by Church officials to look for explosives or booby traps. An IDF spokesman said that 40 "explosive devices" were found in the Church compound. On Christmas Eve 2009 another battle will be taking place in Bethlehem. Emmanuel Fleckenstein has organized a three-day battle of the bands that he hopes will attract bigger crowds to Bethlehem. Fleckenstein's four-man band gets to play in the prime venue, Manger Square, and will end its 45-minute set with a rendition of "Silent Night." The festival combined with Israel providing greater security and more tourist permits is a sign of Bethlehem's gradual revival as a tourist attraction.
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