Economy and Tourism

IMMEDIATELY AFTER OPERATION PILLAR OF DEFENSE, THE TOURISM MINISTRY APPROVES GRANT ALLOCATION FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW HOTEL ON THE SITE OF AN ABANDONED BUILDING ON THE SEASHORE.

 THE APPROVAL WAS GIVEN WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE GRANT REQUESTS SUBMITED TO THE INVESTMENTS ADMINISTRATION IN THE TOURISM MINISTRY FOR THE CONVERSION OF 13 HOTELS THAT WILL ADD ANOTHER 470 NEW HOTEL ROOMS AT AN OVERALL INVESTMENT OF ABOUT NIS 153 MILLION. ANOTHER PROJECT: CONVERSION OF THE CASINO BUILDING IN HAIFA TO A HOTEL
 
TOURISM MINISTER STAS MISEZHNIKOV: “THE TOURISM MINISTRY ATTACHES GREAT IMPORTANCE TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND REHABILITATION OF TOURISM IN THE AREAS IN THE SOUTH AFFECTED BY THE RECENT HOSTILITIES. CONVERTING BUILDINGS INTO HOTELS IS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MINISTRY’S POLICY OF EXPANDING THE HOTEL SUPPLY IN ORDER TO CREATE COMPETITION THAT WILL LEAD TO LOWER VACATION COSTS IN ISRAEL. THIS IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE RECENTLY APPROVED BY THE GOVERNMENT.’
The Tourism Ministry is continuing to expand the hotel supply in Israel.  The Investments Administration in the Tourism Ministry recently approved 13 grant requests to restore and convert 13 hotels in Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Acco, Haifa, Nahariya, Kfar Horesh, Tiberias and Kibbutz Ein Gev. This will add another 470 rooms to the existing hotel supply in Israel. The overall cost of the investment: about NIS 153 million. The total amount of the grants allocated: NIS 34.5 million. During 2012, the Investments Administration approved grants of about NIS 200 million.
 
A new hotel will be built in Ashkelon – after a return to routine in the South and a hiatus of many years in hotel construction. The hotel will be built on an abandoned building on the seashore that served as a hotel decades ago. The entrepreneur will invest NIS 15 million in building a 50 room hotel. The expansion of the hotel by 100 rooms in an adjacent hotel is already in the planning stage.
 
The Casino building in Haifa will be converted into an A standard hotel with 54 rooms, at a cost of NIS 21 million. The Casino building operated mainly in the 1930s as the entertainment and leisure center for residents of the Bat Galim neighborhood.
 
The Investments Administration also approved a grant for converting 64 rooms in the holiday village near Kfar Horesh and Nazareth, which extends over 40 dunams, at an investment of over NIS 31 million. A total of 85 holiday units are scheduled to be built in the village (including 10 suites), which already offers spa facilities.
 
In Jerusalem and Tiberias, cities which are eligible for grants of up to 28% of the overall investment, six grant allocations received approval, with a combined overall investment of more than NIS 47 million. Among the projects: conversion of the Leonardo Hotel near the Quiet Beach in Tiberias; conversion of a kindergarten in the YMCA on King David Street in Jerusaelm to 21 guest rooms and their annexation to the Three Arches Hotel that operates within the building and the addition of another 47 guest rooms in the Strand Hotel in East Jerusalem following the conversion of office space at an investment of about NIS 12 million.
 
The hotel supply is also increasing in the Western Galilee, with the approval of the addition of 17 rooms in a conversion of a building reserved for an A standard hotel in the Old City of Acco. In Nahariya, a grant for converting the Sol Marine Hotel with 40 suites (A standard) at an investment of NIS 17 million was approved.