Israel’s Tourism Triumph
The virulently anti-Israel movement known as Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions-BDS-is roiling through campuses, overflowing into city councils, encroaching into corporate boardrooms, and now chomping at the essence of Israel's special niche in the world: its travel and tourism industry. Whereas similar boycotts against other countries have inflicted withering effects on national economies, in Israel-it simply hasn't worked. The opposite is true.
Today, most
North American travelers to Israel are not Jewish; they are Christian, often
seeking Biblical discovery. When Israeli tourism prospers, so does the Palestinian
community. Christian pilgrims make a beeline for Bethlehem. Thus, tourism
breeds economic interdependence and strengthens co-existence.