(Jerusalem) After more than a year and a half with almost no tourists, Israel reopened its borders to vaccinated travelers on Monday, after a drop in contamination and in parallel with a national vaccination campaign in favor of booster doses.
And in the Old City of Jerusalem, the crossroads of monotheisms where the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall and the Mosques Esplanade are concentrated, traders impatiently await the return of customers.
This is the case of Rami Razouk, a souvenir seller who has found a smile after selling for the first time since the start of the pandemic, postcards and t-shirts to foreign tourists.
“I’m very happy, it’s been a long time since I had sold anything. Look at all that dust! », Launches the one who has just sold stuffed camels to a French tourist and tries energetically to reach out to other customers.
“I hope the government will not go back on its decision,” said the Palestinian trader, whose shop is located in the Palestinian part of the city, occupied by Israel. He is nevertheless aware that no matter what, “tourists will not come back in a day or a month”.
Israel had an exceptional tourism year in 2019 with 4.55 million visitors. In 2021, authorities expect to welcome 300,000 tourists, some arriving earlier this year in organized groups, and estimate losses to the economy at 22 billion shekels ($ 8.5 billion).
“200 km / h”
PHOTO AHMAD GHARABLI, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
The tourist shops in the old city of Jerusalem.
“The tourism industry was traveling at 200 km / h and had to stop suddenly because of COVID-19,” Amir Halevi, director general at the Ministry of Tourism, told AFP. “It will take a while before we start again […], but I hope that each month we will manage to improve the numbers. “
In Jerusalem, the hospitality industry estimates it lost a million shekels per month for every hotel closed. “Today is a fantastic day as we see the end of the tunnel,” says David Tucker of the local Hotel Association.
On the forecourt of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the spot where Jesus was crucified, buried and resuscitated according to the Christian religion, some guides amass their troops.
Some groups of tourists had been allowed to return to Israel in September, but not individual travelers.
“As a (tourism) professional, it’s both awesome and weird,” says Ezechiel Grinberg, an Israeli guide who accompanies, for the first time in months, a group of Americans.
“It’s not easy, because there are still a lot of closed places, it’s not really a return to normal,” he explains, regretting the many conditions foreigners have to comply with to return. in the country, a brake on the recovery of tourism according to him.
“Best coffee”
PHOTO AHMAD GHARABLI, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Visitors visit the burial place of Jesus Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Travelers must present a vaccination certificate less than six months old and a PCR test no longer than 72 hours before leaving for Israel, and then take a second test upon arrival.
Many shops on the Via Dolorosa, a path of suffering where Jesus, according to the Gospels, met his mother and received help to carry the cross, remain closed.
Nader Zaro, white mustache and checked shirt, opened his little café there with the walls covered with drawings left by tourists. “Best coffee in Jerusalem” can be read in Dutch, Portuguese and English.
Oranges, lemons and pomegranates are ready to be squeezed, but fridges are always empty.
“We are starting to see small groups of tourists, but we need ‘normal’ (individual) tourists because groups of tourists pass by, but don’t stop,” laments the Palestinian trader, mopping his mop through his floor. establishment, the back of which is plunged into semi-darkness.
He only lights a few neons at the entrance, because electricity is too expensive for its reserves cut down by the pandemic. “And what would that be for?” He exclaims. The few visitors there are, “everyone wants them so we jump on them. I get eaten up ”.