The Holy Land's millennium
By EATTA PRINCE-GIBSON
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1999
Will the year 2000 be a success or a colossal failure for the Israeli
tourism industry? The answer depends on whom you ask.
Academics and tourism professionals complain bitterly that the planning for
this hallmark tourism year has been plagued by lack of vision, poor
planning, insufficient funding, political short-sightedness, Jewish
xenophobia, and bureaucratic incompetence. Government officials, on the
other hand, insist that the situation is satisfactory, and that most, if
not all, is well with Tourism 2000.
According to Dr. Joel Mansfeld, from the Center for Tourism, Pilgrimage,
and Recreation Research at Haifa University, Israel has missed a wonderful
opportunity.
'The decision to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the
catastrophe has already been made,' he says. 'After the year is over, they
will decide who will sit on the committee.'
In contrast, Yossi Noi, director-general of Administration 2000, the
organization responsible for millennial tourism, asserts, 'There is no
failure and no catastrophe. When we look at the big picture, we see that
2000 will be a good year for Israeli tourism.'
Four years ago, in a declaration entitled Tertio Millennio Adveniente, the
pope announced that he intended to visit the Holy Land and promised all
Catholics that their sins would be forgiven if they visited both Rome and
Jerusalem in 2000.
The pope's pronouncement should have been a wake-up call for the
politicians, officials, and professionals dealing with tourism, but
apparently it wasn't. It was only in early 1998, two years before the
millennium, that the government established the Tourism Ministry's
Administration 2000 to coordinate, supervise, promote, and encourage the
relevant government ministries to plan for 2000.
Says Mansfeld: 'The year 2000 is a hallmark event. In order to do things
properly, the government should have started planning eight to 10 years
ago. After all, 2000 didn't come as a surprise!'
Noi, the third director-general since the administration was established, assumed his
position only three months ago. Hinting at political ineptitude in the
previous government, he says, 'I don't know why everything was done so
late. Honestly, I ask myself the same question.'
According to Noi, Administration 2000 was set up not as a decision-making
body, but to implement the decisions made by an interministerial committee
and a committee of directors-general currently headed by Yossi Kucik, the
director-general of the Prime Minister's Office.
Mansfeld contends that the interministerial committee should have taken
some of the authority away from the ministries and invested it in
Administration 2000.
'The politicians are, and always have been, incapable of taking authority
away from one ministry and assigning it to an ad-hoc, independent
government corporation,' Mansfeld says. 'But that's the only way to make
decisions and prevent the ministers from getting bogged down in petty
short-sightedness.'
Administration 2000 received a budget for overhead, and the respective
ministries were expected to finance activities for the millennium from
their regular budgets - which, not surprisingly, most of them refused to
do. Lacking any formal authority, the administration was unable to force
them to do so.
As a result, Noi admits, government decisions were not implemented,
investments in infrastructure were not allocated, and even simple
directives were not followed. And now, Israel is playing a game of catch
up.
Officials, professionals, and politicians have long been aware, for
example, that the long lines and crowding at Ben-Gurion Airport have been a
major public-relations and logistical problem. Yet a government decision to
upgrade the computer system was not implemented due to disagreements over
funding among the relevant ministries and organizations.
Kucik recently started dealing with this, and within six weeks an upgraded
state-of-the-art computer system - at a cost of $1.5 million - is expected
to be in operation, says Noi. There are also plans to open additional
terminals, and departing tourists will undergo security checks at their
hotels before being transported, with their luggage, directly to the gate.
These measures, Noi asserts, will improve the 'get out of the airport' time
significantly.
The 'game of decreasing numbers' has been another symptom of the
disorganization and lack of strategic, proactive planning. An internal
Tourism Ministry document, dated mid-1998, anticipated four million
tourists who would have brought $3.4 billion into Israel's GNP, generated a
3% market growth, and created nearly 50,000 job opportunities.
But now, all seem to agree that this figure was too high, and, at best,
Israel can look forward to three million tourists in 2000.
Dani Shahal, director of the Overseas Offices and Marketing Department in
the Tourism Ministry, says three million isn't bad. 'All sorts of numbers
were thrown into the air, but it isn't good for the country to grow too
fast. In 1995, we reached a peak of 2.5 million tourists. Then the number
dropped, due to the bombings and the political climate. Now it is coming
back up, and so growing to three million is very satisfactory.'
Jonathan Harpaz, director-general of the Jerusalem Hotel Association, is
also satisfied - under the circumstances. 'Yes, three million is a
satisfactory number - but only because Israel couldn't take in any more,
because the infrastructure isn't ready. Had the government and the
ministries prepared adequately, we could have easily reached four million.'
And will Israel be ready even for these three million?
Noi acknowledges that, until recently, Administration 2000 had not taken
'advantage of the momentum it could have used to push things forward, and
important government decisions were not implemented,' like plans to upgrade
the airport.
But, he notes, the busiest tourist seasons have always been in the spring
and the fall (and not, as is commonly assumed, over the Christmas holiday
season). And, he added, this year, March and April will be particularly
busy, due to the pope's anticipated visit. Noi promises that Administration
2000 has gone into high gear and will be ready in time.
The bulk of tourists will be, as always, Christians, whose visits
concentrate on three areas: Jerusalem, Nazareth, and the area around the
Kinneret.
In Jerusalem, the historical tourist sites have been adequately prepared as
have new sites, such as the Kings' Valley. However, according to Harpaz,
Jerusalem's tourist problems are much more basic.
'Jerusalem,' he says, 'is filthy. Simply disgusting. The city isn't lit up,
and it doesn't feel festive. The walls of the Old City have beautiful
lighting, but the rest of the city is dingy. And the entrance to Jerusalem
isn't welcoming at all. The city isn't decorated.
'Storefronts in the center of the city aren't attractive, and the
pedestrian mall in the center of the city is neglected and unkempt. The
mayor should have made these things his priority.'
In response, spokespersons for the Jerusalem Municipality have insisted
that Jerusalem will be ready by next week, and certainly for the spring.
Mayor Ehud Olmert too has publicly promised that by next week his city will
be decorated and lit up, that the pedestrian mall will be finished, and
that even the damage caused to the Garden of Gethsemane by recent rains will be taken care of.
Furthermore, insists Noi, Checkpoint 300 between Jerusalem and Bethlehem
will soon be improved and operational. Israeli and Palestinian
teams met to coordinate, and on December 4, when Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat lit the Christmas tree in Bethlehem, the new
arrangements worked perfectly.
'The traffic will flow freely, and pilgrims will be able to move easily
between Bethlehem and Jerusalem,' Noi promises.
Even Jerusalem's infamous parking problem will be resolved, according to
Noi. Currently, the 850-space Karta parking lot, adjacent to the Jaffa
Gate, is closed on Shabbat, due to a religious coalition which owns and
operates the lot. According to Noi, Minister Haim Ramon and Tourism
Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak have taken this problem on, including raising
the possibility that parking on Friday nights and Saturdays will be free,
thus avoiding the need to violate the Sabbath through monetary
transactions.
'It's absurd,' Noi admits. 'We have a perfect parking lot, and then it's
closed on the days when we need it the most. And Christmas is going to be
on Friday night and Saturday!'
The area around the Kinneret, according to both Noi and Shahal, will also
be adequately prepared. However, extensive ministry plans, including the
construction of a pier for tourist ships in Capernaum and the straightening
of the road in the area of Mensa Christi to facilitate easy and safe
walking for pilgrims visiting churches to the north of the Kinneret, simply
weren't implemented or are still far from completion. According to Shahal,
the Tourism Ministry is currently investing additional funds for sewerage
and roads in the area, and hopes that they will be ready for the
March-April crush.
There are approximately 55,000 hotel rooms (including kibbutzim and
bed-and-breakfasts) in Israel, and these should be adequate for the
tourists who will arrive, says Shahal. In March, however, a group of nearly
40,000 youths will be coming at the same time as the pope and Shahal says
that they will be set up in tent camps around the Kinneret.
'No one, no country, could take on such a number all at once,' Shahal
insists. 'These groups are made up of youthful pilgrims, and they will do
fine in the tent camps.'
The big problem, however, is Nazareth. The city of Nazareth simply won't be
ready for the tourists - or the pope - in the spring.
In 1998, an internal Tourism Ministry document announced that the Nazareth
2000 Project would start development works in the city to prepare for the
expected tourists and pilgrims. Plans called for important infrastructure
improvements such as additional parking lots, paving of major traffic
routes, and the development of observation points, communion corners, and a
small amphitheater for prayer.
Nazareth has had a facelift, and it does look a bit spiffier. But the late
planning didn't allow for the correction of some of the major
infrastructure problems and today there are parking spots for only 50
buses.
'The city of Nazareth is paralyzed by the enmity between the Christians and
the Moslems,' Mansfeld says. 'If the government had intervened early
enough, they might have been able to help them to reach some resolution,
but, at the last minute, nothing can be done.'
According to Noi, Kucik is working hard to improve the situation, including
the parking disaster. 'Nazareth is a problem,' he sighs. 'We'll do what can
be done, but we won't be able to fix it all at the last minute. What will
be will be.'
And there are other areas, not connected to the tourist sites, that may not
be resolved, even by the end of 2000.
For example, the problem of visas, which continues to plague Israeli
tourism. Until recently, the Interior Ministry was wary of non-Jewish
tourists for religious reasons, and it remains wary of potential illegal
foreign workers. The ministry has therefore made it extremely difficult for
non-Jewish tourists from countries such as Romania, the Philippines, and
the former Soviet Union to obtain tourist visas to Israel.
Here, too, Noi's reply is optimistic. 'We are trying to make things easier
for the tourists, but we don't want, at the same time, to make the problem
of illegal workers worse.'
New computer services, which will soon be introduced in the Interior
Ministry, will make the visa problem easier, he promises.
But according to Rabbi David Rosen, director of the Israel Office of the
Anti-Defamation League and co-liaison to the Vatican, Israel isn't prepared
for the influx of tourists in a much more profound way.
'This year is a wonderful opportunity for Jews and Christians to get to
know each other. It is a wonderful opportunity for Israelis to come to know
Christians and for Christians to know Israelis,' Rosen says.
Noting that the Catholic Church has undergone tremendous changes in the
last generation, Rosen believes that Israel is missing a critical
opportunity. 'We should certainly help to educate Catholics about Israel
and Judaism, but, much more importantly, we should be educating ourselves.'
The focus on the few apocalyptic evangelicals, Rosen insists, is just one
example of lack of knowledge. Although dangerous, these largely Protestant
groups represent a 'fraction of a tiny minority, yet, because of ignorance,
the media have focused on them rather than on the millions of humble
pilgrims who are coming.'
Similarly, Dr. Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating
Council in Israel, believes that the rabbinate's refusal to allow hotels to
put up Christmas trees and other cultural symbols reflects historical
Jewish insecurity and a deep misunderstanding of what the Jewish state
should mean.
'The religious establishment is continuing to distrust everyone, instead of
encouraging modernity, openness, and our own self-confidence as Jews,'
Kronish says. 'Meeting with the Christians who will be coming here,
teaching them about ourselves and learning about them, would be a step
toward tikkun olam, the bettering of the world to which every Jew should
be committed.'
Shahal and Noi both promise that the Ministry of Tourism and Administration
2000 are about to begin an extensive media campaign to explain the value of
tourism to Israelis. Ads on radio, TV, and in the printed media, together
with large street signs, will encourage the public to 'be friendly to
tourists' and welcome them warmly.
Overall, Noi and Shahal remain confident.
'We can't fix in three or four months what hasn't been done over the years,
that's true. And, of course, there will be problems, but we got through
October and November, when there were record numbers of tourists,' says
Shahal.
'Got through,' it would appear, is a relative term. In October,
approximately 300,000 tourists entered Israel - the highest ever. In
Jerusalem, around the Kinneret, and in Nazareth, there were tremendous
traffic jams. At Ben-Gurion Airport and at numerous tourist sites, all
sorts of vehicles were pressed into service, due to a lack of buses.
Tourists were shuttled from makeshift parking lots to their destinations,
and the lines outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher stretched throughout
the Old City.
'There were long lines,' Shahal admits, 'and there were some problems. But
all in all, it went over okay. And it certainly isn't going to be a
catastrophe - after all, at Disneyland and at the Eiffel Tower, don't
people wait in line, sometimes for over an hour?
So what will the conclusion be, one year from now? It would appear that
officials are counting on Israel's 'secret weapon' - a well-known capacity
to 'wing it.'
But Mansfeld says soberly, 'The millennium is too great an event to just
wing it, to count on improvisation. The bottom line is that this will be
the third time in a decade that Israel blew it: We blew the Jerusalem 3000
event, we blew Israel's 50th anniversary, and now we're about to blow the
millennium. And all for the same reasons - inept, short-term planning, lack
of vision, and the inability to think strategically.
'It's a national mistake,' Mansfeld continues. 'It shows that our ability
to respond to hallmark events is poor, and this will affect our ability to
compete for other hallmark events in the future, such as international
festivals, Olympics, etc. We just won't have any international credit.'
Harpaz agrees. 'Everything here is political, not rational or thought-out.
We are always putting out the fires, so we don't deal with the long-term
issues. Everyone says how important tourism is, but then the funds are
allocated to yeshivot and ritual baths instead of additional hotel rooms.'
But Shahal and Noi remain optimistic.
'Of course, we can always improve,' says Shahal. 'And things can always be
better. But overall, 2000 will be a wonderful year for tourism, and 2001
will be even better. We will grow gradually, the way we should, and by
2003, we will approach four million tourists.'
| 
