To be economically sound, however, regional cooperation must generate additional tourism, rather than redistributing existing visitors. Foreign governments and international aid agencies can encourage tourism and regional cooperation by sharing their experience and funding marketing campaigns, research, and training. Most Europeans travel to the Levant for relaxation, but long-distance visitors are more likely to come for regional tourism, and represent a potential market for regional cooperation.
Tourism is extremely sensitive to perceptions of personal and regional security.
Jewish tourism to Israel is fairly constant, but Christian tourism is expected to pick up significantly as the region becomes more peaceful. The international community can provide assistance with border crossings, which generally do not function as smoothly in the Middle East as airport clearance, although more as a result of bureaucratic rather than security considerations. The West Bank economy is so small that even a small share of tourism growth could be quite significant. The nascent Palestinian tourism industry will cater primarily to religious Muslims and Arabs from the Gulf, who will want to stay in the West Bank but may take day trips to Israel. It will depend on Israel and Jordan to provide easy access through Jerusalem and to international airports.