Tourism is a growing sector in Palestine and stands to benefit greatly from an improvement in the current political climate and security situation.

There are many tourist destinations, including the famous cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, Nablus and Gaza. Jerusalem, the city of peace, is the birthplace of three world religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism and is home to most of their sacred sites.

In Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity, built over the cave where Jesus Christ was born on Manger Square, is host to thousands of tourists and pilgrims every year.

Nablus is famous for its 30 tall minarets and Jericho, the city of palms, is allegedly the first urban settlement in documented human history, dating back almost 10,000 years.

Tourism, like all aspects of life in Palestine, suffered very much during the past few decades and was especially hit hard by the outbreak of violence which started the Second Intifada in September 2000. Since 2004, however, a lot of effort has been made and the sector is successfully being revived.

During the fourth quarter of 2007, 82 hotels were in operation, with 4,094 rooms and 8,901 beds. The number of guests totalled 88,912 and guest nights 199,132, which is a major increase from the same quarter of 2006.¹ “Hotel occupancy rates are 75% in Bethlehem compared to around 10% a year ago,” said Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in his speech at the London Business Forum on Trade & Investment with Palestine in December 2008.

An effective partnership between the public and private sectors is required to develop the tourism sector in Palestine in order to attract more visitors, both religious and recreational. The public sector has to work with neighbouring countries to reopen borders and to establish a regional framework to cope with the expected increase of foreign tourists. The private sector needs to finance investments in hotels, restaurants and places of entertainment. Trade fair conferences, festivals and exhibitions are also activities which need funding and advertising to help boost the sector.

Following the London Business Forum on Trade & Investment with Palestine of December 2008, a scoping mission was planned by British Expertise. This took place during the first week of October 2009 and the focus of this mission was to put together a written report on the opportunities in the tourism sector in Palestine for UK companies on behalf of the UK government.

Even though Palestine is a small country, the land is rich in history and natural beauty and the Palestinian people are traditionally hospitable and welcoming.

Useful links

• British Expertise: http://www.britishexpertise.org/
• Visit Palestine http://www.visit-palestine.com
• Near East Tourist Agency (NET): http://new.netours.com/
• Bethlehem 2000 http://www.bethlehem2000.org
• Birzeit University Tourism Information http://www.birzeit.edu/links/ti.html
• Hotels of Palestine http://www.palestinehotels.com
• Bethlehem Hotel  http://www.bethlehemhotel.com
• Metropolitan Press / Palestine Report  http://www.metro-press.com/palestine/palestine.html
• Journey in Water Colors in Holy land    http://www.aquarelles.com