Gaza resorts gear up for tourism surge
By LAMIA LAHOUD
Looking out at the Mediterranean from the lobby of the stylish new Oasis
tourist resort (Al-Wahah in Arabic), it is easy to forget that the densely
populated Gaza Strip was the hot spot of the intifada.
Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza in 1995,
hotels, beach clubs, and seafood restaurants have popped up along the
white-sand Gaza coast and special tax laws have been enacted to encourage
local and foreign investors to build more.
'For example, those who invest $1 million are exempt from taxes for a year
and can import their materials tax free,' explained Osamer Rashed of the
Ministry of Tourism in Gaza.
It's all part of a scheme to attract tourists for the millennium, says
Mohin Sadeq. Twice as many people visited Gaza in
October and November of 1999 as during those months last year, and
numbers are expected to continue to rise, added Sadeq, who also works with
the Bethlehem 2000 project, which promotes Gaza visits in local tourist
offices.
However, Sadeq couldn't quote any numbers. 'It is difficult to collect
statistics, since many kinds of tourists come to Gaza - visitors from Arab
countries, Christian and youth groups from America and Europe, political
groups, students, businessmen, and Israelis, both Jewish and Arab. Last
week, a group of students from the Open University in Tel Aviv were touring
Gaza, he said.
Gaza presently boasts 12 hotels and beach resorts, which have been booked
at 70 percent capacity for the past four months, he said.
Besides the main attraction of the beautiful beaches, Gaza has several
archeological sites, mostly dating back to the Byzantine period. Next to
the Jabalya camp, there is a Byzantine site with a colorful mosaic, a
basilica and a Byzantine cemetery. In Gaza City tourists can visit the
Greek Orthodox church that was originally built in 407 CE and later rebuilt
by the Crusaders in the 12th century. (The church, which is in the Old
City, still serves Gaza's Greek Orthodox community, which numbers about
4,000.) The Old City also houses the Omari Mosque from the 12th century.
Two historic harbors have also been excavated for tourism.
Gaza's resorts - on the dunes at the northern coast between Gaza City and
the Israeli border - are also growing in popularity. Al-Wahah, which opened
only three months ago, is already a favorite spot for well-to-do Gazans,
foreign visitors to the PA, and Israeli Arabs who come in busloads over
the weekends.
Ziad Quqa, Al-Wahah's food and beverage manager, said that the resort has
up to 3,000 guests on an average weekend. 'Dennis Ross was our first
American visitor,' he added, referring to the US peace envoy.
On a recent weekend, a group of Israeli tourists held Hanukka celebrations at
the resort. 'We brought a band from Tel Aviv, and [they lit] the
first candle of the hanukkia,' Quqa said.
As the peace process advances, Quqa is sure that more and more foreigners
and Israelis will visit Gaza. 'We expect to see 40 percent of all our
guests coming from Israel, the US and Europe,' he said. So far, Al-Wahah
has 56 chalets on the beach, which are rented for $60 a night, but a
five-star hotel with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, Turkish bath, and health club
is under construction, as is a conference and business center. Quqa hopes
to finish the hotel by the beginning of 2000.
But planning doesn't end there. Given that the Gaza tourist area is very
close to some of seaside strip's poorest refugee camps, precautions are
taken to ensure the safety of the guests. Al-Wahah, for one, is only a few
kilometers away from the Shati camp, a stronghold of militant Islamic
groups like the Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which violently oppose the peace
process and any attempts at Westernizing Gaza.
'We have our own security personnel,' Quqa said. Gaza's Preventive Security
chief Mohammed Dahlan, whose brother is one of three owners of Al-Wahah,
makes sure that visitors there are protected. And since most other hotels
and beach clubs are owned by PA members or those connected to the PA, they
are all similarly protected, said Adel Yahiya, who organizes tours to Gaza
and the West Bank.
Israel's OC Southern Command Brig.-Gen. Yom-Tov Samia, at least, seems to
feel safe at Al-Wahah. He liked it so much after his first stay that he
returned with a group of 80 Israelis to have breakfast on the way to
Jordan.
But while the PA makes sure that Islamic fundamentalists do not harass
visitors or jeopardize their security, the population's traditional Islamic
values still pose a problem for Gaza's tourist industry, Quqa explained.
'We can't serve alcohol openly, since that would give us a bad name; we
cannot employ Palestinian waitresses, since this would be regarded as
immoral,' he said. 'The sheikhs would incite people against us in the local
mosques.'
Quqa, therefore, suggests that alcohol be served inside the rooms, and that
the clubs start employing waitresses from the Philippines. Sunbathers, too,
can be kept far from the public eye, he adds, allowing guests to swim
freely without offending anyone.
For nightly entertainment, Yahiya takes his tourists to the beach resorts
in and around Gaza City, which quietly organize parties and musical events.
The Nawas Beach Club, owned by Palestinian writer Abdel Karim Sabaweh,
screens movies. (Gaza's public movie theaters are closed, since Islamic
fundamentalists object to cinemas.)
During the month of Ramadan, which began on December 8, it is forbidden by law to
eat, drink, or smoke on Palestinian-ruled streets, but hotels will be allowed
to serve food and drink to their visitors, Quqa said. 'We are planning to
bring in singers and dancers from Egypt to perform during Ramadan nights,'
he said. Christmas and the New Year's are also being taken into account.
And outside the resorts, in Gaza's Omar Mukhtar square, the PA is marking
Ramadan with folklore and music events. For Christmas, a huge tree was put up and celebrations held for both the Latin and the Greek Christmas, explained Rashed from the Tourism Ministry.
In anticipation of the tourists, the Gaza International airport is beginning
operating 24 hours a day in December, when authorities expect traffic to
increase from the current two flights a day. Fayez Zaidan, the airport's
director and head of the PA's Civil Aviation, expects European carriers to
start flying to Gaza. KLM and Lufthansa have already expressed interest, he
said. So far, Tarom, Romania's national carrier, Egypt Air, Royal
Jordanian, Royal Air Morocco, and the Palestinian Airlines fly in and out of
the Gaza airport.
'We expect good times in the year 2000. Many of the tourists who visit
Bethlehem will come to Gaza, and many of the tourists from Africa and the
Arab world who come through Gaza airport and the Rafah crossing will stay a
few days in Gaza before going to Bethlehem,' said Quqa.
Indeed, Quqa's New Year's wish is for the millennium and peace process to
boost Gaza tourism and help modernize its traditional society.
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