Visits to Jesus’ homeland know no crisis.
On the
contrary, this year, the Holy Land has witnessed a big boom in the
number of incoming tourists, particularly from Italy. This is according
to data published by the Israeli tourism office.
It should be noted that the figures in question
relate to tourism in general, not just to pilgrimages; religious tourism
is, nevertheless by far the most widespread reason for which people
visit the Holy Land – at least as far as trips from Italy to Israel are
concerned.
It is surprising then that August 2012 was a
record month for this type of destination, with 21 thousand Italians
jetting off to Israel, 52% more compared to August last year.
During the
January-August period, as many as 107 thousand Italians chose Israel as
a destination, that is, 11% more that last year.
These are unprecedented figures that form part of a
general trend of growth in Israel’s tourism to Israel: on a global
level, the total number of visitors for the January-August 2012 period,
was 2,3 million, an increase of 7% compared to last year and 5% compared
to 2010 (which was already a record year).
At the moment, then,
considering the peak in arrivals recorded every year during the
Christmas period, everything indicates that Israel will exceed the 3, 5
million threshold for foreign tourist numbers, for the first time ever.
As far as pilgrimages from Italy are concerned,
August’s record figures are partly down to the increase in itineraries
for young people, aided by the fact that there was no World Youth Day in
2012.
The trend should continue over the coming months because – as a
letter on the subject suggested – there are a number of parishes and
dioceses that are planning a trip to the Holy Land to mark the Year of
Faith, an event which Benedict XVI has called for 11 October 2012.
But numbers are not looking so great for all
Christian holy sites: another very important factor of the boom in
tourism to Israel, is the cruise industry’s 39% growth.
In concrete
terms, this means that of the 107 thousand Italians that visited the
Holy Land this year, as many as 18 thousand (almost 1 in 5) travelled
there by boat and only stayed for one day. Increasingly, visits to many
key areas of Christian faith are just quick getaways, making a real
spiritual experience impossible.
In terms of the countries of origin of these
tourists, visitors from the United States come top (425,000 so far),
with Russia not far behind (365,000). Italy is sixth, behind France,
Germany and the United Kingdom.
There has also been a significant
increase in the number of Christian pilgrims, the new tourists of this
globalised world, who were very rare to find in Jerusalem until about a
year ago: Brazilians (35,000 so far in 2012), Indians (15,500) and
Chinese (15,500).