Tourists return to north

Thousands of Israeli tourists flood attraction sites, hotels in north as quiet returns to area after over a month of fighting
Sharon Roffe-Ofir

After five weeks of absence, thousands of Israeli tourists returned to northern Israel on Saturday.

Some tourists asked to be photographed near Israel Defense Forces soldiers and tanks positioned along the border.

Among the visitors were family members of soldiers serving in Lebanon.

Israeli soldiers sail Kayaks in the Jordan River (Photo: Anma Ohayoun)

On average, a rise of 30 percent in business was registered in attraction sites and hotels across the north but some water attraction resorts on the Sea of Galilee and in the Golan Heights registered a 90 percent improvement.

Zamir Gasser, the owner of the Gai Sea Resort said: "The minute the mess ended reservation didn't stop coming in. People are not scared and by next week we will be fully reserved. People want to assist us and they know the north is a magical place. I call on all Israeli to come and enjoy themselves with us here in the north."

A mother and her daughter before an IDF cannon (Photo: AP)

A large part of visitors were residents of the north who had spent five weeks in shelters to escape rocket attacks from Lebanon.

The Hamat Gader recreation park said 500 people visited its facilities over the weekend.

Some 800 people visited the Kayak facility in Kfar Bloom on the Jordan River.

"There is great interest in the north and there are a lot of reservations for the future," hoteliers said. Although the ceasefire went into effect on Monday morning, some hotels in Tiberias and Metula said they were fully booked over the weekend.

In Metula, along the Lebanese border, people were curious to inspect the damage caused by five weeks of fighting and some were seen picking fruits from orchards whose fences were torn down by IDF tanks on their way to southern Lebanon.

Across the border, life seemed to be coming back to normal as dozens of villagers could be seen on the streets.