By ANDREW TOBIN, SHALHEVET ZOHAR
"We're in trouble," Nati Krakover, the general manager of Acre's Palm Beach Hotel, said Sunday.
His 126-room hotel just outside of the city has had nearly 200 cancellations for next week. "This means at least NIS 150,000 out of our pockets," he said. "And if Arabs and Jews in this community do not submit to the rule of law soon, life, and the economy, here might never return to normal."
The clashes between Arab and Jewish residents of the city, which started on Yom Kippur and continued Sunday, have caused similar problems for accommodations throughout the Western Galilee region.
Akkotel is one of the few hotels located within the city of Acre. Several days ago, the 16 rooms of the chateau were nearly all booked for the coming week. They are now mostly vacant.
For the last 30 years, The Acre Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre has brought thousands of mostly Israeli visitors into the city during the Succot holiday. Due to the continuing violence, Acre Mayor Shimon Lancry has indefinitely postponed the event this year.
Pascale, a tour guide for the Old Acre Development Company, said "The festival is the most important cultural event in the city. Its postponement, as well as the violence here, is devastating to tourism." Tourism Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila and teams from the ministry visited Acre on Sunday to meet with the Mayor and managers of the city's tourist sites. Their goal was to collectively formulate an emergency plan to rehabilitate tourism an Acre.
Before the meeting, Avraham-Balila said, "The tourism industry spurs the growth of both the local economy and of coexistence, good relations between neighbors, and cooperation between the various sectors in the city and in its surroundings. We must ensure that the tourists, both Israelis and visitors from abroad, return to the city."
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