Israel's small hotels and bed and breakfasts opened their doors on Sunday for the first time since coronavirus forced them to shut down two months ago.
Rotem Kaiserman of Rishon Lezion and her family were visiting the boutique ranch Alta Galila in northern Israel. Kaiserman told Israel Hayom about their decision to take a break after a stressful time.
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"After we were at home the entire time of the coronavirus, the kids lost it and so did I, so we decided we would take a little vacation," she says.
"It's a really nice place and the prices are fairly good, so we decided to take advantage of it and enjoy ourselves a bit. We won't be vacationing abroad in the near future, so we'll vacation in Israel, with the family. I recommend it for anyone who can afford it. They're very particular here, and we feel completely safe," Kaiserman added.
Shalom Cohen, who owns the Dorita estate hotel on Moshav Liman, says in a phone conversation with Israel Hayom that starting last Wednesday, when word went out that bed and breakfasts could resume operations, "We woke up from the nightmare."
"Reservations are coming in, it's amazing. All our accommodations are private, with private pools, and people don't mix. Breakfast is served to the rooms. We're putting personal hygiene kits in every room. Demand is very high, and it's so great to see vacationers coming back," Cohen says.
On Sunday, the Tourism Ministry published the conditions that small hotels and bed and breakfasts need to meet to be awarded a Purple Tag, which allows them to reopen for business: All employees must wear masks and gloves and change them every four hours, if the masks are surgical ones. Entrances to each accommodation unit must be two meters (six feet) apart, and rooms must be carefully cleaned using bleach or cleaning solutions that contain at least 70% alcohol. Each employee must have his or her temperature taken; the facilities must not operate public water features, including swimming pools and water fountains; the staff must keep apart from the guests; and reception desks must be outfitted with dividers. In addition, no public facilities can be operated, and guests must sign a declaration stating that they are healthy.
Some of Israel's larger hotels have also opened. Leon Avigad, a partner in the Brown Hotels chain, discussed the partial return to business.
"There won't be adjacent rooms in the first stage, and we sanitize every room thoroughly and wait at least 24 hours between one guest leaving and another moving into the same room," Avigad said.
Currently, the Club Hotel is the only hotel in Eilat that is operational. On Sunday, the hotel was already seeing an uptick in the number of guests and inquiries about reservations. The hotel is operating in accordance with Health Ministry instructions, and maintaining a very high level of hygiene. In the next few weeks, more Eilat hotels are expected to reopen, and the city is expected to resume its place as an attractive destination for domestic tourism.
Meanwhile, Eilat's beaches are being transformed. Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi says that the beaches are underoing a "major upgrade," and notes that the period in which the city was closed to tourists allowed for a significant push forward with the project.
"Visitors will see beautiful beaches," Halevi said.
The Israeli tourism industry isn't the only one fighting to get back on its feet. Only six months ago, the global tourism industry was celebrating a record year for travel. Now, it's decimated and facing a recovery that could take years.
Tourism Economics, a data and consulting firm, predicts global travel demand won't resume its normal pace until 2023.
When tourists do finally return, they will face a changed landscape that incorporates social distancing and other measures to calm residual fears over COVID-19.
"It takes time to shake fear from the hearts of people, not to mention the economy," said Mahmoud Hadhoud, founder of Egypt Knight Tours, who doesn't expect foreign tourists to start trickling back into Egypt until September.
Last week, Hilton, Marriott and Airbnb all announced enhanced cleaning procedures worldwide to ease travelers' minds. In Egypt, Hadhoud is removing cruises and hot air balloon rides from his packages and replacing them with tours of Egypt's vast western deserts, where travelers can keep their distance from one another.
The road to recovery will be long and hard for the tourism industry. The United Nations World Tourism Organization predicts global tourist arrivals – or visits from tourists who come to their destinations and stay at least one night – will fall 30% this year from the record 1.5 billion in 2019. Airlines have grounded nearly two-thirds of their planes as passengers vanish. Cruise ships are docked; some won't sail again until November.
Millions of people who depend on tourism are laid off or furloughed. In the US alone, an estimated 8 million tourism-related workers are jobless right now, or about one-third of total US unemployment, said Roger Dow, the president and CEO of the US Travel Association.
Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of the International Air Transport Association, the leading airline trade group, said carriers need to fill at least 70% of seats to break even on most flights. If they're required to block or remove many seats, they will either stop flying or raise prices 50%, he said.
That will delay recovery for places like Israel, which sees almost all of its tourists arrive by air. Diklah Cohen Sheinfeld, chief of staff of the Tourism Ministry's director general's office, said the tourism industry – which employs 250,000 Israelis – was the first to be impacted and will likely be the last to recover.
"There are no tourists and no entry to the country for tourists. The gates are totally closed," she said.
In some places, governments are stepping in to help the sector. Serge Cachan, president of the Astotel hotel chain in Paris, closed his 17 properties in March and expects to lose 70% of his business this year. But the French government will help the chain get through it, he said. The government is paying around 80% of furloughed hotel workers' salaries.
Many destinations anticipate travelers' behavior will change in the virus's wake. Pornthip Hirunkate, vice president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, thinks more people will come in small groups or seek personalized tours.
Ander Fuentes, who works as a tour guide in Spain's Granada province, thinks travelers will shift away from crowded beaches to the quieter interior mountains.
"It could be an opportunity to develop a new kind of tourism, which is going to be good for Spain, because in the last 10 years, the tourism boom has been in quantity but not in quality," Fuentes said. He hopes tourism there picks back up by mid-August.
But not everyone is comfortable with reopening. Marco Michielli, who owns the 67-room San Marco Hotel in Bibione, a beach resort east of Venice, Italy, said many hoteliers worry their businesses will be ruined if the virus spreads on their properties. Some would rather reopen next year than serve guests this summer with desk staff and bartenders wearing masks.
''If we have rules approved by the ministry, some hotel owners would be convinced to start to open. But if the hotel must look like a COVID ward, many will refuse to open to guests,'' he said.
Others say they need reassurance from science – not just tourist sites – before they travel.
Dedy Sulistiyanto, the owner of a tour and adventure provider in Bali, Indonesia, has been promoting his business on social media while it's closed. He has received so many positive responses that he thinks tourism will resume quickly when restrictions are lifted. Most of his clients are domestic tourists from Indonesia.
"There are so many people out there very eager to do traveling," Sulistiyanto said.
