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).