RAMALLAH, Wednesday, October 21, 2020 (WAFA) – The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced today that coordination has been initiated with the Ministry of Health to restore life to the tourism business in Palestine after a long shutdown due to the Corona pandemic.

Tourism Ministry Deputy Minister Ibrahim al Hafi told the official Voice of Palestine radio that an application named "Jahzeen" (ready) has been launched for this purpose, explaining that the ministry had started from the beginning of the outspread of COVID-19 in Palestine back in March to prepare a plan to revive the tourism sector in cooperation with partners. The plan, he said, is divided into long, medium and short term steps.

Hafi explained that the priority in the plan is to revive internal tourism in a sequential and gradual manner while adhering to the health instructions of the Ministry of Health and global health protocols.

He noted that the tourism sector this year incurred losses of $1.5 billion, which is approximately $13 million a month.

Hafi added that the number of tourists coming to Palestine in 2019 was 3.5 million, and the profits were about $1.2 billion, which makes 9-12% of the Palestinian national income. However, this dropped in the first quarter of this year to about $400 million.

K.T./M.K.