In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered by
Christians as Jesus’ birthplace, local businesses
expected a boost from Christmas tourism. The
Bethlehem Hotel, one of the largest in the city,
has operated at a fraction of capacity for the
past 18 months.
“Everyone who had bookings over the next two
weeks has canceled, while others are waiting
to see what happens next,” said the hotel’s
manager, Michael Mufdi. “I don’t know how
much longer we can last, but we are doing
our best.”
The pandemic already caused foreign tourism
in Japan to shrink from 32 million visitors in
2019 to 4 million last year, a trend that has
continued through this year.
As worries surfaced about omicron, Japan
on Wednesday tightened its ban on foreign
travelers, asking airlines to stop taking new
reservations for all flights arriving in the
country until the end of December. Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida has pushed for avoiding
“the worst-case scenario” and reversed a
relaxation of travel restrictions that had been in
effect just three weeks.
The crowds of Chinese shoppers who used to
arrive in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district in a stream
of buses to snap up luxury items have long
disappeared. Restaurants and bars have been
forced to restrict hours.
In Asakusa, a quaint part of town filled with
souvenir shops, rickshaw drivers, and stalls
selling traditional sweets, news of the omicron
variant made little difference this week.
Vendors say there hasn’t been any business for
months except for a few local customers.