Tens of thousands expected in Israel over Christmas
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Tens of thousands expected in Israel for Christmas

  • 12/20/2015
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    ​Tourism Minister Yariv Levin: "I welcome the thousands of visitors who are expected to arrive in Israel for the Christmas holiday. We are doing our utmost to offer assistance to each and every one and welcome them. The ministry invests significantly throughout the year in the conservation and upgrading of Christian sites in order to ensure that every Christian can visit the sites that are sacred for him. We invite you to visit these sites and enjoy a powerful religious and spiritual experience."
  • Jerusalem: sunset view from the Mount of Olives, with Church of Mary Magdalene
     

    ​(Communicated by the Foreign Press Adviser to the Ministry of Tourism)

    The Tourism Ministry is working to welcome the tens of thousands of visitors expected to arrive in Israel for the Christmas period. From 15:00 on Christmas Eve through to 03:00 on Christmas Day, the Ministry of Tourism will offer free shuttle transportation, helping pilgrims travelling between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Buses will leave every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour from the bus stop near the Carta Parking lot (opposite Jaffa Gate and near to the Mamilla Boulevard). The bus will also stop near the entrance to the Mar Elias Monastery, and at the Rosmarin junction, before continuing via Rachel's Crossing to Bethlehem - and then back again.  Representatives from the Ministry of Tourism will welcome tourists and pilgrims at Rachel’s Crossing with sweets in the spirit of the holiday. The ministry will also provide a firework display during the Christmas parade in Nazareth. 

    Events and festivities in Jerusalem and Nazareth
    21 December 2015
    Tourism Minister Yariv Levin will host the traditional pre-Christmas reception for leaders of the Christian communities and churches in Israel at the Shimshon Center, Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem at 11:00. Also participating in the reception alongside ambassadors and Christian leaders will be the Director-General of the Tourism Ministry Amir Halevi, and representatives of the Church, government and private bodies involved in promoting Christian tourism to the Holy Land. Among the Church leaders attending the reception: His Beatitude Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III, His Eminence Vatican Ambassador Giuseppe Lazzarotto and the Custos of the Holy Land His Paternity Pierbattista Pizzaballa.  The minister will send season’s greetings for Christmas to the Christian communities and invite the faithful around the world to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
     
    24 December 2015
    On Christmas Eve, 24.12.15, the traditional parade of thousands of local youth, together with the leaders of the Christian communities, will pass through Nazareth from 15:00. The parade ends at the plaza in front of the Basilica with a firework display, sponsored by the Tourism Ministry, to announce the opening of the festive Christmas celebrations (17:30). Christmas Mass will be celebrated in the Basilica of the Annunciation at 19:00.
    In recent years, the Tourism Ministry has invested close to NIS 100 million in developing and maintaining the infrastructure of Christian sites, in order to enrich the pilgrim's spiritual experience. These sites include, among others, the baptism site at Qasr el Yahud near the Dead Sea, Mount Zion and Ein Karem in Jerusalem and the Gospel Trail in the Galilee. Other projects include, among others, the boardwalk from Tiberias to Capernaum, Korazim and Mount Precipice.
    The Papal visit to Israel in May 2014 brought thousands of tourists and pilgrims to Israel and, following the visit, hundreds of thousands more tourists who traveled to the Holy Land as a result. The Tourism Ministry invested about NIS 2.5 million in marketing in order to leverage the Pope's visit.
    The ministry runs dedicated websites and facebook pages for the Catholic and Evangelical communities.
    ·        www.holyland-pilgrimage.org (the Tourism Ministry’s dedicated site for Catholic pilgrims, available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Polish and Portuguese).
    ·        http://www.goisrael.com/Evng (the Tourism Ministry’s dedicated site for Evangelical Christians)
     
    Christian tourism – facts & figures:
    54% of the 2.9 million tourist entries (those staying at least one night) in 2014 were Christians. Of these, 39% were Catholic, 27% Protestants, 27% Orthodox. Among the Protestants, 74% were Evangelicals (who comprise 20% of all Christian tourists and 8% of all tourists), while 26% were from the mainstream and the Afro-American church. Among the Orthodox, 85% belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, and 15% to the Greek Orthodox and others. 
    21% of all visitors to Israel defined the purpose of their visit as pilgrimage. The vast majority of all Christian visitors visit Jerusalem, with about a third visiting Tel Aviv-Jaffa. The most visited sites by Christians (by descending order) were Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Jewish Quarter, Capernaum, Old Jaffa, Tower of David, Qumran, Yad Vashem, Beit Shean and Qasr el Yahud.