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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 649

Christian tourism

Tourists take pictures with the Christmas tree in Manger Square, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Dec. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)
December 15, 2022, 9:34 am
Bethlehem welcomes back Christmas visitors as post-pandemic tourism soars
Streets are bustling with tour groups and hotels are fully booked, as Israeli-Palestinian tensions appear to be having little effect on the number of holiday tourists
By Sam McNeil
Ethiopian Christian pilgrims attend a Good Friday procession in Jerusalem, Friday, April 14, 2017. (Dan Balilty/AP)
March 14, 2022, 10:10 am
Israel said barring Ethiopian Christian pilgrims from country, for fear they’ll stay
In letter cited by Israeli TV, immigration authorities tell tourism agencies not to let groups because of concerns they won’t return home due to ongoing civil war
By ToI Staff
A man searches for mines near the site of Qasr al Yahud, the place where Jesus is believed to have been baptized, near the West Bank town of Jericho, on December 9, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
April 12, 2020, 10:44 am
Just in time for Easter: Jordan River baptismal site is mine-free after 53 years
‘It was like walking into a time capsule, with beer still on the shelf, the tables still laid for dinner,’ says head of UK group who oversaw project at Qasr al-Yahud
By Melanie Lidman
Christian tourists pray inside the Grotto, believed to be the exact spot where Jesus Christ was born, at the Church of the Nativity in the biblical West Bank city of Bethlehem on December 21, 2019. (Musa Al SHAER/AFP)
December 22, 2019, 7:20 pm
At Christmas, Bethlehem says it’s denied full gifts of tourism
Palestinian Hotel Association laments that Israeli organized tour groups only make short visits to Christian pilgrimage city
By AFP and ToI Staff
File: Tourists look out over Jerusalem's Old City, as seen from the rooftop of the Austrian hospice, on a foggy winter day, January 2, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
December 29, 2018, 4:39 pm
Israel saw record-breaking 4 million tourists in 2018, says tourism ministry
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin hails ‘significant revolution in marketing Israel’ abroad
By ToI Staff
A group of tourists and pilgrims visit the Church of the Nativity, the place where Jesus is said to have been born, in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem, on December 12, 2018. (THOMAS COEX / AFP)
December 20, 2018, 6:04 pm
At Jesus’s birthplace, an app is born… to ease crowds
With tourism to Bethlehem on the rise, PA ministry says advance reservation system will shorten lines at entrance to Church of the Nativity
By AFP and ToI Staff
A couple poses for a picture in front of the Grotto of the Nativity, the place where Jesus is said to have been born, inside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on December 12, 2018. (Thomas Coex/AFP)
December 17, 2018, 2:15 pm
Bethlehem church mosaics sparkle in time for Christmas
Experts clean, repair surviving fragments of 12th century masterworks at famed Church of the Nativity, some of which were covered by soot for centuries
By Clothilde Mraffko
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City forms the backdrop to a tour guide holding up a picture of the ancient Jewish Temple. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)
October 8, 2018, 1:06 pm
Riled tour guides warn new bill could skew tourists’ Israel experience
Legislation that would allow non-licensed guides for pilgrims and some foreign groups, set for Knesset debate this month, would lower standards, threaten livelihoods, guides say
By Sue Surkes
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wishes 'Merry Christmas' on December 24, 2017. (Screen capture: Facebook video)
December 25, 2017, 12:24 am
In Christmas message, Netanyahu offers Christians personal tours of Israel
Prime minister wishes ‘Merry Christmas’ to citizens of the Jewish state celebrating the festival and to ‘our Christian friends around the world’
By JTA and ToI Staff
Kathie Lee Gifford at the 2016 Greenwich International Film Festival in Greenwich, Connecticut, June 10, 2016. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for GIFF)
September 26, 2017, 3:34 am
Kathie Lee Gifford wrote a book about Israel
‘Today’ co-host chronicles her past four rabbinical study trips to the Holy Land in ‘The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi’
By Gabe Friedman
Illustrative: A tour bus with an advertisement encouraging tourists to travel to the West Bank settlement bloc of Gush Etzion, January 6, 2015. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
April 25, 2017, 12:55 am
Gov’t agency bans all tour groups from West Bank, then says it made a mistake
Population Immigration and Border Authority says letter barring trips was issued in error; will send new missive with guidance for PA-controlled areas
By ToI Staff
Foreign students of the Bethlehem Icon Center work on their painting during their course, in the biblical West Bank city of Bethlehem on April 11, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX)
April 13, 2017, 8:03 am
Ancient sacred art resurrected in city of Jesus’s birth
In Bethlehem, a group of enthusiasts specializing in the sacred craft of iconography work to keep the 2,000-year-old tradition alive
By Sarah Benhaida
Loa'i Ghaithe carefully applies gold trim to a specialty item. (Brett Kline/Times of Israel)
January 3, 2017, 10:29 am
From Hebron hovel to airport kiosk, on the trail of Holy Land ceramics
Tourists flock to Jerusalem and Jaffa to purchase this ornate flowery pottery — made in Palestinian workshops in the West Bank
By Brett Kline
Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida, a Bible-themed Christian tourist attraction on December 8, 2016 (Matt Lebovic/The Times of Israel)
December 21, 2016, 9:31 pm
Will Florida’s ‘Holy Land’ survive another Christmas?
The Jesus Christ-themed Holy Land Experience is celebrating 15 years, but some neighbors claim the theme park is facing financial Armageddon
By Matt Lebovic
Greek Orthodox Christian pilgrims walk by a sign warning of mines as they take part in a traditional Epiphany baptism ceremony, at Qasr el Yahud on January 18, 2011. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
May 16, 2016, 12:20 pm
Jesus’s baptismal site, long sealed off, to be cleared of landmines
Churches at Qasr al-Yahud have languished behind barbed wire for five decades; now a UK anti-mine group plans to rid area of 4,000 explosives, giving pilgrims access
By ToI Staff
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