Disappointment in North as tourists stay away in droves

Only 50 to 70 percent of the hotel and guest rooms in the northern communities near the border were occupied during the holiday, apparently because people are still wary of going north after the conflict in Lebanon.

"We expected many more people," chairman of Metula's Tourism Association Lior Baz said on Sunday. Some 300 of Metula's 400 hotel and guest rooms were occupied over the weekend.

Tourism officials in the moshavim expected Israelis to throng to the Upper Galilee Panhandle. That did not happen.

"We expected many more holiday makers than that. It's very disappointing. Usually on Rosh Hashanah, everything is booked in advance. Apparently some people are still afraid [to come north]. But everything is quiet here, it's all behind us. We're just waiting for people to come."

In the Hula Valley area, a little south of the border, occupancy rates were much higher. All of Kibbutz Gonen's 78 rooms and huts were occupied and the western Galilee and Merom Hagalil communities reported an 80 percent occupancy.

"In previous years, all the rooms would have been booked already a week before the holiday. This time the reservations started only after the war," said Meir Levy, manager of Kibbutz Gonen's tourist resort and head of the Upper Galilee's Tourist Forum.

Tourist officials said Israelis were returning to the north gradually. "First they are testing the water, they come for a day to see what it's like and later return for a few days," said Emma Ohayon, the marketing director of the kayak site of moshav Beit Hillel and Kibbutz Kfar Blum.

"At present, they seem to prefer a one-day tour without staying the night," said Ohayon. "Some 3,000 people came to the kayak site every day of the holiday, about the same as last year. For us this is back to normal, as though there had been no war. I know the hotel and guest rooms in the north were not fully booked yet and hope they recover soon," she said.

Thousands visited neighboring tourist resorts in the north, said Tami Atiya, of the Western Galilee's Tourist Association.

Some 2,500 visitors came to Lake Agmon on Saturday and many others visited the Hula nature reserve.

"People have returned to the north in a big way," a Jewish National Fund official said.

"Many hikers are looking for Katyusha rocket remnants," said Baz. "There were many visitors at the Kfar Giladi site where the 12 soldiers were killed."

All of the Golan Height's 1,800 rooms were occupied and the hiking routes were thronging with people. "It was like a normal holiday," said Yisrael Eshed, director of the Golan Height's tourist association.

He attributed a large part of the holiday success to the massive marketing campaign "Holiday in the Golan."

"This was the first time that we felt we were back in business," Eshed said. "We thought the recovery would be faster, it took longer than we expected, but it's finally here."