Top > Business > 2006 > July > 2006-07-17

The Financial Effects of War on the Holy Land

Israel has a built-in tourism demographic in the form of the Jewish people and Evangelical Christians. But while Evangelical Christians may very well come to see where Jesus walked 2,000 or so years ago regardless of the dangers, Jews who don?t see the point in going to a place where they may be killed by Iranian missiles or Syrian chemical weapons might stay away. Regardless of what this says about Israel?s built-in tourist pool and worldwide support network, the Promised Land may be denied the promise of a healthy tour season to a normally tourist-enticing area.

The outbreak of war on Israel?s northern border, and rocket strikes hitting communities in the Jewish state which previously had largely or almost completely escaped the many years of terrorism and low-intensity war since 2000, has likely gotten tour companies wishing for peace in the Middle East more than ever.

With trips being canceled, and hotels being emptied or even destroyed or simply damaged, the losses resulting from Hezbollah?s gamble of kidnapping Israeli soldiers and firing missiles south into Israel will be bigger than many probably could have imagined. Even so, countries dealing with hostilities in the Middle East right now are probably looking toward the future, even toward August, when all of the violence has ended, or at least waned. Whether there will be much of Lebanon, or northern Israel for that matter, to see can only be guessed at now.