As Christmas decorations go up in Bethlehem, hotels are almost at capacity with tourists rushing to the birthplace of Jesus
BETHLEHEM, West Bank - As the Christmas decorations go up in Manger Square, Bethlehem is preparing for its best Christmas for two decades, the town’s mayor and hoteliers say.
So dependent has Bethlehem become on tourist income that an upsurge of violence anywhere in the volatile Middle East - not just in its near vicinity - spells financial disaster, with nervous tour groups prone to cancelling months ahead. The main bottleneck, he said, was the tiny front door of the Nativity church, through which pilgrims must crouch to enter. Once vast, it was reduced in size centuries ago by the Crusaders, then again during the Mamluk and Ottoman Turkish eras to prevent looters driving carts into the church.
They will even consider asking tourist groups to register in advance in future. “If the number will be high and the church can’t receive all of them we need to look for other plans that can be helpful,” he said.This year townsfolk are abuzz about a new attraction - a wooden relic reputed to be from the manger used by the infant Jesus and sent back last week to Bethlehem from Rome.
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