Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati participated in a meeting held at the Manger Hotel, organized by the Arab Hotel Association. The meeting brought together the Association’s Board of Directors and a number of hotel owners and managers to discuss the challenges facing the city’s tourism and hotel sector.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and members of the Municipal Council. The meeting emphasized the importance of unifying efforts to support this vital sector. Several proposals were put forward, most notably imposing a nominal fee on visitors to support local services, establishing a vocational hotel school, and promoting religious tourism.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Hotel Association, Mr. Sami Abu Dayyeh, opened the meeting with a welcoming speech in which he emphasized the need to unify efforts to protect the hotel sector, as it is one of the most affected sectors in Palestine. He also emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships and cooperation between the hotel sector, the Bethlehem Municipality, and the Chamber of Commerce, to contribute to supporting this vital sector and ensuring its continuity.
For his part, Canawati affirmed the Bethlehem Municipality’s commitment to supporting the tourism sector as a fundamental pillar of the local economy, noting that the municipality is working to address the challenges facing hotels in cooperation with relevant authorities. He also stressed the importance of improving the city’s tourism ranking and capitalizing on its historical and religious status. He noted the municipality’s intention to enhance infrastructure and develop public services to provide an attractive environment for visitors and investors, in addition to supporting projects that contribute to the sustainability of the tourism sector.
Dr. Samir Hazboun highlighted the Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to provide soft loans to hotels through coordination with several local banks, to ease the financial burden on this vital sector, especially in light of the decline in tourism. He also emphasized the importance of enabling hotels to continue providing high-quality services, as they are the city’s primary destination. Hotel owners raised challenges related to operating costs and taxes, specifically high waste and water fees, civil defense requirements, and official registration requirements, calling for practical solutions to ease burdens and improve the work environment.
In conclusion, the attendees emphasized the importance of cooperation between the municipality, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Arab Hotel Association to advance the tourism sector in Bethlehem.