Yerushalayim Awaits November Tourists (Photo Essay)

By BJLIfe/Sharon Altshul
Posted on 10/07/21

Jerusalem, Israel - Oct. 7, 2021 - The Israel Ministry of Tourism announced work on a plan to allow individual vaccinated tourists, not traveling in groups, to visit Israel from the beginning of November. Increased numbers of international tourists are needed to rehabilitate the tourism industry and to ensure the hundreds of thousands of people working in the industry can earn a living.     

In September 2021, 34,500 tourists were recorded entering Israel, compared to 15,100 in September 2020, and 405,000 in September 2019, according to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism statistics.

During the period January through September 2021, there were 243,500 tourist entries into Israel, compared to 782,700 in the corresponding period in 2020.

On Wednesday afternoon, with the holidays over, BJL walked to the popular Yerushalayim tourist destination, Ben Yehudah Street. Storefronts were vacant, some of the shutters were painted with colorful murals. The overhead kites and umbrellas were fading, and another summer attraction the large yellow duck statue was gone.

However, people were eating along the central Ben Yehudah Mall area. The piano at Zion Square was in tune. New construction and buildings and businesses anxiously await the return of international tourists.

At 31 Ben Yehudah Street, artist David Schmidt was in his workshop gallery. Opening a year and a half ago when corona restrictions demanded businesses to close, Schmidt told BJL, he designed his storefront windows as an art gallery for passers-by to be able to enjoy and appreciate art.

His current works consist of layered mixed-media collages: sliced papers, drawn and cut with a knife, then integrated with digital imagery."The Rebbe" "Purim at the Front," "Bereavement," and "Our Boys" (Israeli soldiers) are some of his pieces.

Included in the photo essay, Ben Yehudah Street beginning at David Schmidt Art Gallery ending on Yoel Solomon Street.