New cash injection for Jerusalem hotel infrastructure
First there was the millennium tourist rush that never developed in the volume that had been predicted. Then there was the intifada, followed by economic boom, followed by economic bust. Now it looks as if the cycle of Jerusalem tourism is on the upswing once again, with the recent Tourism Ministry announcement of its plan to allocate 150 million NIS for hotel construction and expansion in the coming years.This event has ended
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First there was the millennium tourist rush that never developed in the volume that had been predicted. Then there was the intifada, followed by economic boom, followed by economic bust. Now it looks as if the cycle of Jerusalem tourism is on the upswing once again, with the recent Tourism Ministry announcement of its plan to allocate 150 million NIS for hotel construction and expansion in the coming years.
In addition, the Ministry is planning on doling out 60 million NIS more for the purpose of converting existing buildings into hotels. Although this is a, Israel-wide initiative, the project will place a special focus on Jerusalem, which leads the pack as a top tourist destination.
The Ministry's initiative is designed to create a wide variety of options from the high-end to more affordable fare in order to cater to tourists at all points on the economic spectrum, and it includes an open call for real-estate moguls to apply for financial assistance to construct new hotels, renovate old ones and convert existing structures into tourist havens.
In some sense, Jerusalem is already one step ahead of the Ministry, with the recent inauguration of the Mamilla Hotel, the planned opening of a new Waldorf Astoria (pictured) in the coming years and the current revamping of the Inbal Hotel. But if the Ministry's prediction of 5 million tourists in 2015 is to be believed, then more rooms are needed still.
As Ariel Rotstein, director of the Jerusalem Hotel Association, explains it to GoJerusalem.com, "The country is developing, and tourism is developing. If we want more tourists, we need to have places for them to stay, and the Ministry of Tourism is trying to encourage this. We see this new initiative as a positive development, if it actually leads to increased numbers of tourists. The Ministry has to invest in the entire tourist infrastructure in order to encourage more tourists to come."
The old adage that "If you build it, they will come," seems apt as ever in this context.
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