Skift Take
Tourism on the ground in Israel reveals a grim picture as the region continues to deal with the deep-rooted issues at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Israeli-based tour guides are facing a wave of cancellations as the country unites in response to the fatal missile attacks on Saturday. As of Monday, more than 1,000 people had lost their lives.
Intrepid Travel has canceled tours to Israel and the Palestinian Territories until 31 October. The Travel Corporation also confirmed all its October departures had been canceled as of Saturday, noting it had two Trafalgar trips and two Insight Vacation trips planned for the affected region.
All resources are being channeled into providing relief, according to Laura Ilan, a freelance Israeli tour guide based near the Sea of Galilee in the Northern part of Israel, who recounted the events that unfolded on Saturday morning while guiding a tour group of 18 Colombian travelers to famous pilgrimage sites in Jerusalem.
"We left the hotel more or less at 8.30 am. We left the hotel on our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We were supposed to be in Bethlehem in the afternoon, but then, two minutes after that, the siren broke, warning