JERUSALEM (OSV News): Christmas tree lightings in Jerusalem and many towns and cities in the Holy Land last December pointed to a return toward normalcy for pilgrimages and tourism to Israel following the global Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns that began in 2020.
As Israel lifted all bans and restrictions connected with Covid, the country has witnessed a gradual return of tourism, especially in the last quarter of 2022, said Joseph Hazboun, a Palestinian Catholic of the Latin Rite, who has served Catholic Near East Welfare Association [CNEWA] for more than two decades.
But the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has presented other setbacks to the local tourism economy and the pandemic changed daily living and livelihoods for many throughout the Holy Land, according to Hazboun, who is the regional director of CNEWA, an agency of the Holy See.
“It will take some time before the numbers reach peak levels of 2019, yet this slow return is encouraging, as hotels and pilgrim homes are back in business, hiring or rehiring staff and souvenir shops are back in business, as well as the hundreds of small olivewood factories that have suffered greatly in the past couple of years because of the lack of tourism,” Hazboun told the Florida Catholic by email from his office in Jerusalem.
He added that as hotels and pilgrim homes open back up for business, other parts of the economy flourish.
While Christians in Israel are a minority within a minority—Arab Israeli Christians account for approximately 2.4 per cent of Israel’s total population—the Church’s social service institutions are numerous and impact all segments of society, Jewish, Christian and Muslim, according to CNEWA.
It will take some time before the numbers reach peak levels of 2019, yet this slow return is encouraging, as hotels and pilgrim homes are back in business, hiring or rehiring staff and souvenir shops are back in business…
Joseph Hazboun
In an area that suffers a high rate of unemployment in general, the tourism reboot has affected the lives of tour guides, especially students who graduated right before or during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Hazboun, who pointed out that some of those graduated are now seen entering the Jerusalem-based Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre to accompany and guide tourist groups.
“Souvenir shops in Bethlehem and Jerusalem are welcoming buses of tourist groups again. Restaurants, food industries, handicraft workshops are all back in business, with sales up between October and December,” Hazboun said. “There are reservations for tour groups and pilgrims visiting the Holy Land for February and beyond.”
He said, “Relatives and people we know, who owned olivewood factories, and who stopped working during Covid, are now back in business and earning their living with dignity. Hotels are hiring and more young graduates are finding employment.”
Hazboun contrasts that with the dark days of the pandemic, when CNEWA and its partner agencies arranged an annual “day of solidarity” for 20 religious and monastic congregations, selling their handicraft and food products to locals and international nonprofit entities present in Israel.
“This year, we were told that since pilgrimages are back, and international volunteers are coming back, there is no need for a special day of solidarity this year,” he said.
But the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has presented other setbacks to the local tourism economy and the pandemic changed daily living and livelihoods for many throughout the Holy Land
But the conflict in Ukraine has created a new dent in the pilgrimage industry in Jerusalem with Hazboun saying he has noticed a reluctance among many Europeans, including German groups in particular, to travel at this time.
“The British are also reluctant to go on pilgrimages at this time,” Hazboun remarked.
Other European countries find it very risky to invest in pilgrimages when the gas bills have tripled since the Ukraine war began, he said. Russian and Ukrainian pilgrims, once a significant piece of the tourism market in Israel, are also on hold.
There also are lingering impacts of the three years without pilgrim visitors and tourists: Some local handicraft and souvenir workshop owners in the Holy Land who lost their income during Covid-19 are now working as day labourers on construction sites in addition to other manual labour jobs in Israel.
A final communique issued on January 19 at the end of the annual pilgrimage of the Holy Land Coordination, which took place in neighbouring Jordan, noted that many young Christians, despite facing significant social and economic challenges, remain resolutely committed to enriching both Church and society.
“We encourage pilgrims from our different countries to come and encounter these Christian communities” in the region, the statement read.
