Tourism Ministry spreads a little Christmas cheer with Santa Claus
Santa Claus was spotted riding a paddle board on Sunday to a spot in the Dead Sea a short way from the shore where the salt had accumulated.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFSanta Claus striking a pose for the cameras after sticking a Christmas tree on a salt formation in the Dead Sea yesterday(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Tourism Ministry found a way to spread a little Christmas cheer amid a holiday season shrouded by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.Israel's Tourism Ministry, in an effort to revive the tourism industry that has been heavily impacted by the current health crisis, gave Santa Claus a photo shoot at the Dead Sea, in a nod to Christian pilgrims.The photoshoot resulted in a video where Jerusalem's Santa Claus Issanis Kassissieh could be seen interacting with children on the Dead Sea shores, enjoying the waterfalls of Ein Gedi and even meditating on top of a mountain overlooking the Dead Sea.Usually, Christians pay a visit to Israel during the holiday season, but this year, they were kept away from the country because of the pandemic. Some 165,000 tourists visited the Christian sites in Nazareth, Jerusalem and the Galilee during the 2019 Christmas season.“In recent years, Christian tourists have accounted for nearly half of Israel's incoming tourism," said Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen. "They see their holy sites as a place of inspiration and destination to visit.""I am certain that when the skies open, we will once again see groups of believers and Christian families from around the world return to the churches of Jerusalem and Nazareth, baptize in the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee, and tour the Judean Desert, Megiddo and the entire country," the minister concluded.Santa Claus was spotted riding a paddle board on Sunday to a spot in the Dead Sea a short way from the shore where the salt had accumulated.He then planted his Christmas tree, and sat down in a lounge chair in the middle of the lake. The tree, of course, given the saline-rich waters, had no chance of surviving, and Santa took it with him when he returned to shore.The Israeli tourism industry has lost NIS 12.1 billion since the start of 2020 due to COVID-19 health regulations that have kept visitors out of the country, as well as keeping events and other tourist attractions closed. September alone saw a 96% drop in the number of tourists entering the country in comparison to the same month the previous year. Hagay Hacohen, Zachary Keyser and Sarah Ben Nun contributed to this report.
