For years nothing was happening at the Dead Sea tourist attractions, except that the sinkholes continued to multiply. Eilat was the destination of choice for Israelis and the Dead Sea was considered to be a "health" resort. But over the last few years, the Dead Sea resort area has come back to life, with new luxury hotels being opened by leading hotel chains, more state-of-the-art health spas being opened and even leading food outlets such as Aroma and Burger King have established footholds there.

The changes have not gone unnoticed by vacationers: A survey conducted last month by the Vaadim (Committees) Company on vacation habits in Israel found a change in the preferred vacation destinations of workers' committees. The survey found that 40 percent of workers' committees chose the Dead Sea as the preferred destination of workers. Eilat was in second place, with 22 percent, and so the southern resort city was ousted from the top of the list of the most popular vacation destinations for organized holidays.

However, in 2006 almost half of all Israelis' hotel stays, 5.9 million, were in Eilat - an increase of six percent over 2005. Last year, the Dead Sea recorded around 1.8 million hotel stays, an increase of eight percent. There are 15 hotels with 4,000 rooms in the Dead Sea's Ein Bokek-Neve Zohar complex. One of the reasons why Eilat is still at the top of the list is the comfortable prices. "The hotel rates in the Dead Sea area have remained relatively high compared to the rates in Eilat, where there is no Value Added Tax (VAT)," says Shirli Elazar of Eshet Tours.

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According to Elazar, workers' committees that purchase large numbers of rooms through tenders still prefer Eilat to the Dead Sea. However, while in the past they did not even include the Dead Sea as an option, today they have added a few hotels at the Dead Sea to the selection offered to workers. The deputy marketing manager of Hadaka Ha-90, Dudu Mahlev, adds that the group rates at the Dead Sea used to be 30 percent higher than those in Eilat. Today, the Dead Sea rates for midweek stays have been lowered. This is why more workers' committees and conferences prefer that option.

In addition to all these changes, the Dead Sea's location (up to a two and a half hour drive from the center of the country) is a significant factor in its favor, because it allows for a substantial reduction in traveling time and eliminates the need for a flight, as is the case for Eilat. This makes it possible to lower the price of a vacation considerably.

Up until quite recently there were no basic services available at the Dead Sea resort complex, not even an ATM machine. Even the report prepared by the international consulting firm Ernst and Young for the Ministry of Tourism, which reviewed Israel's tourism potential, stated that the Dead Sea area's restaurants, stores and attractions, which are all part of the vacation experience, were insufficient.

Today there is an ATM at the Dead Sea resort complex, but it is located inside the Ein Tekhelet mini-mall inside the Ein Bokek hotel complex and is accessible only during the opening hours of the store in which it is located.

In addition, some national restaurant chains have opened outlets there. A Burger King branch recently opened at the Herod complex in Ein Bokek and an Aroma branch is set to open soon. Noam Berman, the deputy marketing manager of Aroma, notes that during the last two years, the Dead Sea has become a major tourist destination and therefore the chain considers it economically feasible to open a branch there. Preparations for the construction of a Yellow outlet, including a Burger King and another Aroma branch, are almost completed at the Ein Gedi complex.

The arrival of restaurants in the hotel complex will have a decisive impact on Dead Sea tourism. Until now, vacationers had to purchase half-board packages, including breakfast and another hot meal. This was in contrast to Eilat, where visitors can choose bed-and-breakfast and eat their other meals at restaurants in town, which makes the cost of the hotel stay less expensive.

According to Anat Strick-Dahan, the deputy marketing and sales manager of the Fattal hotel chain, the popular concept of "all-inclusive" hotel stays recently reached the Dead Sea hotels as well and is managing to attract families and workers' committees. The Dead Sea area currently offers all the entertainment attractions available in Eilat and leading destinations abroad, such as polished shows, children's clubs and activities throughout the day. This is in addition to family outings and attractions located in the vicinity of the hotels, as well as entertainment and cultural festivals.

Nissim Tal, the deputy director of domestic tourism at Issta, feels that the area, which was considered to be a health resort that should be avoided during the summer months, has been upgraded thanks to an improvement in the level of hotels, air-conditioning, and hotel service, opening up possibilities for the whole family and not just for an older population or those who come for treatments.

One of the recent and significant changes in the Dead Sea vicinity, as far as tourism is concerned, is the Isrotel chain's announcement that it has begun negotiations for the purchase of the Caesar Premier Hotel there. According to Isrotel CEO Rafi Sadeh, the company decided on this move because it believes in the tourism potential of the Dead Sea, "and after we discovered that this hotel's set-up and standard suits Isrotel hotels." Isrotel has 2,764 rooms in 11 hotels, eight in Eilat and the rest in Tel Aviv, Mitzpe Ramon and the north, but none at the Dead Sea.

Not long ago, the Daniel Hotel of the Tamares chain opened at the Dead Sea, in what used to be the Golden Tulip hotel. The hotel has a new spa, called Phytomer, which is a carbon copy of the spa in the Herzliya Daniel Hotel. The spa covers two floors and includes one floor with pools containing Dead Sea water with minerals, mud and sulfur, a Jacuzzi, a Turkish hammam, saunas, a fitness room, and special machines, in addition to a separate floor with treatment rooms. There is also a beach within walking distance.

Families vacationing at the hotel can enjoy the facilities which consist of a children's club, a selection of restaurants, a bowling alley, a video game room, a Tuscan wine bar in the lobby, entertainment, a nightly Scottish-style pub and soon also a disco with live performances. Other attractions include nature hikes, jeep tours departing from the hotel, sunset and sunrise walks along the Dead Sea and at Masada, and more.

In addition to the trend of making the Dead Sea more like Eilat, there is also a countertrend underway in the area, consisting of hotels that focus on tranquillity and the spa experience. One example of this is the Dead Sea Spa Club Hotel, which is the first spa-type hotel at the Dead Sea, operated by the Prima chain. This hotel offers its guests the experience of health resorts such as the Carmel Forest Spa and Mitzpe Hayamim. Instead of providing an endless array of activities for guests and stuffing them with food, the Spa Club hotel offers tranquillity. It is for guests aged 18 and above and is a non-smoking hotel where cellular phones are not permitted.

The heart of the hotel consists of a spacious new spa with an authentic Moroccan design, where it is possible to enjoy a range of treatments and massages, a private Jacuzzi, individual sulfur baths, dry and wet Finnish saunas, a covered and heated Dead Sea water pool, an outdoor fresh water pool, a huge Jacuzzi, an authentic Turkish hammam and an expansive fitness room. Breakfast is served until noon, and complementary herbal tea is available throughout the day, as are the daily papers, robes and slippers in the room. Other kinds of pampering is also provided.

The Sheraton Dead Sea hotel offers the "Seventh Heaven" option, special quiet floors for pampering VIPs, which contain rooms that have sateen bed linens, coffee sets and cookies, complimentary beauty care products, bath robes and slippers, mini-bar packages, free entry to the sulfur pool, a pampering spa treatment for a couple, and a newspaper and freshly squeezed orange juice brought to the room on Friday morning. The hotel also offers a "relaxing weekend package" as well as weekends with romantic programs for couples. The hotel spa offers more than 36 types of treatments and a royal treatment suite. The spa includes two swimming pools: A Dead Sea water pool heated to 37 degrees and a sulfur pool, as well as an outdoor pool with a grassy area surrounding it on the sea shore.

The Crowne Plaza Dead Sea hotel has also turned its top floor, the Crowne floor, into the "quiet floor" intended for couples only. Guests in the rooms on this floor receive a basket of seasonal fruits, a bottle of wine, chocolate pralines, and a bath kit that includes a selection of beauty and health care products based on natural substances and aromatic oils. They also receive a discount on spa treatments and on food and drink orders. The concept of the quiet floor at the Dead Sea Crowne Plaza applies only to this floor, which is meant to host adults without children. In the rest of the hotel, children under the age of 13 stay for free in their parents' room.