European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 04, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Eileen Alt Powell associated press most Days Abdel Raouf Abu assay sits at the door of his souvenir shop in Jerusalem s old City smoking his water pipe and waiting for tourists. These Days he Waits in vain. Quot since the Gulf crisis there is almost no business at All Quot Abu assay complained. Although Israel is hundreds of Miles from the persian Culf the headlines created by Iraq s aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait have scared travellers away from the holy land government and Industry officials said. Some hotels in Arab East Jerusalem largely dependent on Christian visitors from the West say 80 percent of their september bookings were cancelled. Hotel managers fear the traditional Christmas traffic will be Down sharply too. In jewish areas it is More difficult to judge the Impact of the Gulf crisis because foreigners Are just beginning to arrive to celebrate the Quot High holidays Quot in Israel. Jerusalem s Hilton hotel was fully booked for Rosh hash Ana the jewish new year and for the eight Day feast of the tabernacles on oct. 4-11. Motti verses a spokesman for the hotel said that Quot after that we Haven t suffered massive cancellations but for sure people Are hesitating to  Tel Aviv travel agent Harry Kalman said business travel was continuing but that Holiday business was suffering. Quot we get Tel exes every Day from Germany Holland Denmark Quot Kalman said. Quot they want to know if it is Safe to come. There have been a lot of  tourism is one of Israel s biggest foreign Exchange earners netting about $1.8 billion a year the government says. Last year 1.4 million tourists arrived and the government had hoped for a record 2 million this year. Those predictions now seem too optimistic. Moti Debi director of Israel s Ben Gurion International Airport reported a 15 percent drop in the number of passengers who passed through the Airport in the first two weeks of september saying Quot to my great sorrow the Gulf crisis has caused a Sharp decrease in the movement of  Vossi shovel spokesman for Israel s tourism ministry also blamed the slowdown on Israel being tarred with the same Brush As the Gulf. A Quot we Are 1,300 Kilometres 800 Miles from Baghdad but in the perception of the to viewer we Are right there Quot shovel complained. Shovel said he believed neighbouring countries such As Egypt Turkey and Greece also would suffer a drop in tourism from the Gulf crisis. Egypt for example has reported Overall tourism is off 40 percent since August. In Arab East Jerusalem the timing of the Gulf crisis is particularly cruel. Most hotels had Only recently begun to recover from a Sharp drop in visitors during the first two years of the palestinian uprising against israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza strip. Fuad Abul Hajj general manager of the National Palace hotel in East Jerusalem said an average of 85 percent of his hotel s 108 rooms were occupied in because of the tourism downturn it some of Israel s most popular tourist beaches Are nearly empty March april and May much higher than last year. Quot now we have had so Many cancellations a 80 percent of our september bookings Quot Abul Hajj said. He said Christian tour groups also were backing out of reservations made for october and november the sunup season to Christmas. Quot there is nothing we can do Quot he said with resignation. Quot How can you expect people to come to the Middle East with that kind of crisis in the Gulf Quot souvenir Salesman Abu assay concurred. Quot when there is stability there Are tourists Quot he said. Quot when there is fear they go  even government sponsored events have not been immune to the Gulf crisis a one third of the guests invited to the opening of the Israel museum s new modern Art Wing sept. 3 failed to show including the family of the principal american Benefactor. A Twenty of the 90 american jews who were to be part of the prime minister s Mission of major contributors in August cancelled their trips. The israeli tourism Industry now faces an added problem. The finance ministry has recommended tourism services be subjected to a 16 percent tax to help raise Money for the soviet immigrants. A committee is studying the proposal. October 4, 1990 stripes Magazine