Transport Minister Yariv Levin
Over 8,000 hotel rooms to be built over next 4 years
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin has put forth a new bill to streamline hotel construction to build more hotel rooms, lower prices, and increase competition; he is facing stiff opposition from the environmental lobby.
The hotel bill has passed its second and third reading, calling for a change in the hotel industry, and will help to lower hotel prices.
"I believe that there will be a tangible change within the next two years," said Tourism Minister and sponsor of the bill Yariv Levin (Likud).
"We're talking about situation whereby over 8,000 new hotel rooms will be built over the next four years, including in popular hotel chains which aren't currently in Israel."
Hotels on the Tel Aviv beachfront (Photo:Shutterstock)
The bill is expected to enable hotels to obtain building permits quicker and more effectively. According to Levin, "It's clear that this will increase (the supply of hotel rooms), increase competition, and lead to a reduction in prices."
The tourism minister added, "The plans ensure that there will be a fast track for permits for hotel construction and concentrate the hotels into one general committee in a single quick procedure. This will enable us to bring entirely new hotel chains here for the first time."
Levin added that he would give perks such as "allowing 20% of the rooms to be come apartments. This would make the building projects more economically viable, and would expose these hotels to Israeli lines of credit."
Regarding opposition from environmental groups who claim that the beaches will be negatively impacted by the building projects, Levin said "I've never gotten the kind of reactions which I've encountered when pushing for this bill for any other bill, reactions which have included literal violence, bullying, and a gross deception of the public. There has been no damage caused by this bill – not to environmental values, nor to beaches."
Finance Minister Moshe Kahalon (Kulanu) has requested that an amendment to the law be made whereby hotels are not allowed to be built within 100 yards of the beach. Levin responded, saying "I was personally very disappointed with Kahalon's behavior on this issue. I think that he is looking to receive a big gold star for saving Israel's beaches."
