The Israeli Tourism Ministry is working in cooperation with church officials and other bodies to facilitate the celebration of Christmas by the 70,000 visitors expected to arrive in Israel for the Christmas period.
“The State of Israel has a close relationship with Christian leaders and we will continue to invest in the sites that are holy to Christians. Christians will always enjoy freedom of worship in Israel,” said Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau, quoted by The Algemeiner.
Dr. Landau will host today the traditional pre-Christmas reception for leaders of the Christian communities and churches in Israel at the Shimshon Center, Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem. Among the Church leaders attending the reception are His Beatitude Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III, His Eminence Vatican Ambassador Lazzarotto Giuseppe, and the Custos of the Holy Land His Paternity Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
In recent years, the Tourism Ministry has invested close to NIS 100 million in developing and maintaining the infrastructure of Christian sites, in order to enrich the pilgrims’ spiritual experience. As part of the ongoing activities to promote pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Tourism Minister Landau and the representatives of the Tourism Ministry meet regularly with Church leaders and communities.
Earlier this year, the Papal visit to Israel in May brought thousands of tourists and pilgrims to Israel, and following the visit, hundreds of thousands more tourists traveled to the Holy Land as a result. The Tourism Ministry invested additional NIS 2.5 million this year in infrastructure and marketing to leverage the visit of the Pope into more tourism.
After a strong start in the first half of 2014, Israeli tourism was headed for another record-breaking year until the summer war broke out. With the onset of Operation Protective Edge in July 2014 and continued tensions in the region, incoming tourism dropped significantly. The year 2014 is expected to end with a 1% decrease in tourists and 7% fewer visitors than 2013.
