Tourism minister invites Chilean miners for Christmas

Stas Misezhnikov has invited the miners and their spouses to make a spiritual journey and special prayers of thanks for their rescue.

Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov has invited the 33 rescued Chilean miners and their spouses to visit Israel for Christmas, to make a spiritual journey and special prayers of thanks for their rescue. The miners were rescued last week after spending 68 days trapped over 600 meters underground, following a cave-in.

Misezhnikov wrote, "Your bravery and strength of spirit, your great faith that helped you survive so long in the bowels of the earth, was an inspiration to us all. It would be a great honor for us to welcome you as our guests in the Holy Land. This December, Christians around the world - and here in the Land of Jesus - will celebrate Christmas. During that time, we welcome tens of thousands of pilgrims and we would be pleased to offer you this uplifting and extraordinary experience, as our guests."

Pilgrimages accounts for a third of incoming tourism to Israel. 62% of the three million tourists who visited Israel in the peak year of 2008 were Christians, 60% of whom cited pilgrimage as the reason for their visit. More than half of the Christians who visited Israel in 2009 cited pilgrimage as the reason for the visit. 2.7 million tourists visited Israel last year.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 18, 2010

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010

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