Last update - 00:00 19/12/2007
Israel expects over 60,000 pilgrims to come for Christmas
The Tourism Ministry is expecting more than 60,000 Christian tourists to visit Israel this Christmas, up from 40,000 last year.
Of these, more than 20,000 are expected to attend Christmas mass in Bethlehem, and the Tourism Ministry is coordinating with both its Palestinian counterpart and the security services in an effort to ensure they can get there and back easily.
To facilitate this effort, the ministry plans to run a regular bus service to the crossing point near Bethlehem from noon on Monday, December 24 through noon on Tuesday, December 25. The buses will leave every half hour from the Mar Elias Monastery, located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The ministry will also post extra staffers at the crossing.
To speed up passage through the crossing, the ministry is collecting the necessary data for members of group tours in advance. It will also open a situation room to handle problems tourists encounter over the holiday season.
In addition to Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth are expected to draw large numbers of pilgrims, so extra staff will be added to local tourist offices in both cities over the holiday season. These offices also have been stocked with informational brochures in several languages.
In addition, Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch urged the mayors of both cities to make extra efforts to clean up their towns in advance of the holiday.
At a press conference Tuesday, Aharonovitch said that tourism cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority serves the economic interests of both.
"The many tourists who visit us during this season create a bridge for cooperation, understanding and peace between the peoples, and we will work together to ensure full freedom of religion and worship," he said.
Altogether, about 1 million Christian tourists are expected to visit Israel this year, an increase of 30 percent compared to 2006. About half of them are believed to be pilgrims.
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