Despite the growing instability in the Middle East, Jerusalem, a holy place for the three monotheistic religions of the world, is a tourist attraction. Last year, 500 thousand Russian tourists saw Jewish, Christian and Muslim shrines.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat sees "great potential in the development of cooperation between the peoples of Israel and Russia and between the cities of Moscow and Jerusalem. We discussed with Sergei Sobyanin all the features that can be implemented for the development and strengthening of contacts between the two cities in various fields, especially in tourism and culture, health and medical services, as well as in research institutions and joint research.
For several thousand years Jerusalem is the center of spiritual search and spiritual beliefs of many people who come and visit our city as pilgrims. And this, of course, is the main problem, the main direction of the development of the city in order to save the city as a place where all people can come to worship the holy places.
If we talk about tourism, we can offer some very interesting places to visit: from the Museum of Natural Sciences to a wide variety of sporting events, including the Jerusalem Marathon. All this allows attracting many people who want to come to town. Last year 4 million visitors came, and we hope that in the near future we will be able to raise this figure to 10 million each year.
Speaking of tourists, who come from Russian-speaking countries, it is possible to say that if in 2006 only 25 thousand people came, in the past year we hosted over half a million tourists from the Russian-speaking countries. Growth is very large, up to 20 times. We expect that it will increase even more, as the visa regime is easy and it enhances the flow of tourists.
Israel is well-known all over the world as a leader in high technology and research. In particular, in the field of high technologies in Jerusalem there are very promising developments in the field of natural sciences, medicine and other fields. And it's not just about the research side of the issue, the opportunities for practical implementation of scientific development with the participation of business are also very well developed. Now I find that many medical centers in Jerusalem are seeking contacts with colleagues from other countries. There is great potential for cooperation in the field of health with Russian partners, too. "
According to the vice-mayor of Jerusalem, Maria Novikova, in the coming days a Russian web-site itraveljerusalem.com will be launched: "You can use this site to compose routes, find restaurants and cafes, museums, theaters and shows you would like to visit, because, of course, in addition to the shrines of Jerusalem, you can have a great time in other places. Cultural events, festivals, music, opera festival, film festivals - all this you can find on the site. Once a year, during an exhibition of tourism MITT, we present our city. "
"Recently Jerusalem hosted children from Krymsk”, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress Yuri Kanner says. “Accidentally, these children were the pupils of an Orthodox school; we gave them a hearty welcome. Our peoples also have many things in common. About 600 thousand Russians per year visit Israel, and almost all of them visit Jerusalem. We hope to increase the flow of Israelis to Russia, too, although today we have in Russia about 100 thousand Israelis living and working. We are not against this, just the opposite – this is quite pleasant for us".
