The Israel Hotel Association predicts 750,000 Christian tourists and pilgrims in 2004.
Israel Hotel Association economics division head Raphael Farber predicts that the number of Christian tourists and pilgrims in Israel will double in 2004 to 750,000.
Farber, who is also chairman of Royal Plaza Hotels Israel, said most Christian tourists in Israel came from the US, France, South America, Nigeria, Indonesia, Germany, and South Korea.
Farber said relatively few Christian tourists visited Israel in 2003, due to a shortage of large planes suitable for carrying large organized tours of pilgrims to Israel.
Farber said 2,000 Christian tourists were now arriving in Israel from the US to spend four days in Jerusalem, in addition to 10,000 Nigerian pilgrims who will visit Jerusalem in the coming weeks. A pioneering delegation of South Korean members of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church is also currently in Jerusalem.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 23, 2003