RAMALLAH (BNEWS) – Marking World Tourism Day, which coincides today, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said in a press release that indicators in Palestine showed a clear growth in the tourism sector compared to the previous two years as the number of hotel guests in the West Bank doubled during the first half of 2022.
They said Bethlehem hotels received the largest number of guests with 34% of the total number of hotel guests, followed by Ramallah and al-Bireh hotels with 25%, while Jericho and the Jordan Valley hotels with 17%.
It is worth noting that 39% of hotel guests are inbound visitors from outside Palestine, followed by Palestinians residing in the 1948 territories with 32%, while domestic guests constituted 29% of the total guests.
The Number of Inbound Visits to the West Bank Doubled during the First Half of 2022
More the number of inbound visits (same-day visitors) to tourist sites in the West Bank also doubled during the first half of 2022, most of them Palestinians residing in the 1948 territories, and around 25% were arrivals from abroad.
The number of inbound visits from outside Palestine during the first half of 2022 was distributed by governorate as follows: 56% in Bethlehem Governorate, 22% in Jericho and the Jordan Valley Governorate, 18% in Nablus Governorate, and 4% of visits were distributed to the rest of the West Bank governorates.
As for the number of inbound visits from the Palestinians residing in the 1948 territories, they were distributed as follows: 49% of the visits were in Jericho and Jordan Valley, 18% in Jenin, 12% in Nablus, and 21% of the visits were distributed to the rest of the West Bank governorates.
During the first half of 2022, tourist sites in the West Bank witnessed an improvement in the movement of domestic visitors, an increase of 68% compared to the same period in 2021.
Local visits were concentrated in Qalqilya Governorate with 23%, followed by Nablus and Jericho governorates with 17% each, then Ramallah and Jenin governorates with 11% each, while 21% of the visits were distributed to the rest of the West Bank governorates.
The number of employees working in tourism activities increased by 28% compared to the same period in 2021 and constitutes 5% of the total employees in Palestine.
