Last month, the Investment Administration in the Tourism Ministry approved grants for building 994 new hotel rooms with an overall investment of 700 million NIS.

The 2013 grants are allocated for the establishment, expansion and conversion of 16 hotels throughout Israel. Twelve of them are new hotels or hotels undergoing expansion and the rest are conversions to hotels. The hotels will be built in Jerusalem, Tiberias, Haifa, Eilat and more.

Investors in Jerusalem are entitled to grants up to 28% of the total investment. Last month, grants were approved for two new hotels and the conversion of another in the capital with an overall investment of about 430 million NIS.

These include a 400 room hotel from the Nitzba group to be built in the area of the former Foreign Ministry with an investment of 325 million NIS and a 100 room hotel in a listed building on Jaffa Street with an investment of 100 million NIS.

The total amount for grants approved in Jerusalem, in the various tracks advertised by the Tourism Ministry, stands at about 120 million NIS out of an overall investment for hotels in Jerusalem this year of about 430 million NIS.

Grants were approved in Tiveria to build two new hotels in the city and expand three existing hotels with an overall investment of about 156 million NIS. These include a 100 room hotel from the Menorah Gardens group with an overall investment of about 100 million NIS and the construction of a 25 room hotel in a listed building with an investment of about 15 million NIS. Three hotels already operating successfully in the city will expand with another 100 rooms, providing an additional 225 new hotel rooms in Tiveria.

Director-General Amir Halevi added that “the ministry is focusing its support on the main centers of tourism in Jerusalem, Tiberias and Eilat in order to grow the supply and thereby increase competition. The ministry is also encouraging the construction of camping sites in order to offer vacation costs that are similar to those of other countries around the world. In this way we can best realize the significant potential in incoming tourism for the benefit of the economy. We see a significant increase in the numbers of requests from entrepreneurs to the ministry and we will do our best to shorten bureaucratic procedures in order to ease the process.”

Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau added, “Building 1000 hotel rooms in cities and the periphery will promote competition and lead to lower prices for vacations in Israel. This is a significant step that joins others taken to lower vacation costs in Israel, among them the open skies agreement and low-cost airlines, hotel grading, cancelling the requirement for hotel fitness room trainers and more.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)