Evacuees from high-risk areas of Israel were informed recently that they will be forced to leave the hotels that have been hosting them. These hotels include the Isrotel hotels in Eilat, the Carmel Forest Hotel in the North, and the Nea Hotel in Shavei Zion, among others.
Each hotel has been impacted financially in different ways. Isrotel stated that they could no longer afford to wait for the government to vote on extending the stay of the evacuees, and asked for a break until after Passover. As for the Nea Hotel, they can no longer host evacuees because the state has never once given them any compensation funding this entire time.
Like most of the country's tourism businesses, Nea was forced to close at the beginning of the war. After an appeal by Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, the hotel management signed an agreement with the Tourism Ministry. At the beginning of January, the hotel started accepting evacuees from the council, and were then housed in 68 rooms.
Nea Hotel unable to pay staff, will be forced to close due to lack of promised compensation
The Nea Hotel, which is located in Shavei Zion in the Western Galilee, is not part of a hotel chain, meaning its financial stability is lower than others. It is considered a luxury spa hotel, with boutique rooms and private pools.
"According to the agreement with the state, we were supposed to receive funds as compensation, but we never received anything," said Shahar Fuchs, CEO of Nea.
"We were supposed to submit invoices twice a month, on the first and the 15th. No one told us how to do it technically, but we managed. In terms of how much money we should get, we deserve more, because I don't have cash flow, but we went with the rate that the state set, NIS 470 plus VAT per person per day. But the 15th of the month came and we couldn't submit an invoice, because the previous one was never paid, and I cannot host without money. They promised to pay within a few days of issuing the invoice, so we never received an advance payment. Most of our rooms are full, and the rest are to be occupied by the evacuees who left the Carmel Forests, and I have 40 employees to pay."
Fuchs continued, "What's mind-boggling is that no one seems to know what anyone else is doing. A senior official at the Tourism Ministry referred me to the accountant who works with them, and she claimed she doesn't take care of us. We've been in email correspondence ever since. A few days ago, I finally managed to get hold of her and she explained that she was asked to do us a favor and teach us about Excel. I don't need to be taught Excel, I need to be paid."
Fuchs is also serving as an IDF reservist throughout this period and running the hotel in the short breaks he is offered. He said, "My level of anxiety and nerves is unbearable. Last month I paid salaries to employees, and I postponed payments to suppliers. This month I will no longer be able to pay salaries at all because I have no money. I have no choice but to close the hotel. I think about the evacuees who will have to leave and my heart aches."
The Tourism Ministry addressed this dilemma by stating, "The hotel was made aware of the need to correct the invoice that was submitted to the ministry. When the correction is received, the payment will be transferred immediately."
To this, the Nea Hotel responded that they were never made aware of any such need to correct their invoice, nor were they ever told they needed to issue a new invoice.