Bethlehem was worse. I'll never find a place to park. After a few moments of more negotiating he returned to inform our group that another van would be delivering us to Christ's traditional birthplace. The owner of a local souvenir shop would drop us off, and rather than parking he would simply pick us up at a predetermined time. Our new driver inched his way through Bethlehem's crowded streets, weaving around other vehicles, people and piles of construction materials.
Tourism is big business in Israel.
That number is expected to increase 13 percent for 1999, to nearly 2.5 million. In 2000 the Israeli Ministry of Tourism is projecting an increase of as much as 24 percent, or 3.2 million tourists. Approximately 500,000 of those visitors are expected to be Americans, and nearly 2 million will be Christians. But these increases don't alarm Tsion Ben David, director of North American Operations at the Israeli Ministry of Tourism in Jerusalem. We may see as many as 3 million tourists, no more.