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Abstract
In areas that are characterized by political, national, cultural and religious conflicts, issues concerning conservation and development become particularly complex. One prominent example of this tension can be seen in events that have taken place over the last decade in the city of Nazareth, which hosts some of Christianity's holiest sites. Until the mid-twentieth century most of the city's residents were Christian. In the past several decades however, Muslims have come to form the majority of the population. Against this backdrop, Nazareth began to prepare for the millennium year, including the formulation of the ‘Nazareth 2000’ plan for tourism development in the city. Unfortunately, the city's numerous complexities rapidly surfaced, with one of the most prominent examples being the bitter struggle around the city's newly planned main square. This paper examines tourism development for the city in conditions of such cultural conflict.
Les questions liées à la conservation et au développement sont d'une grande complexité dans les régions marquées par des conflits d'ordre politique, national, culturel ou religieux. L'un des exemples les plus frappants de cette tension est visible dans les événements qui se sont succédés au cours des dix dernières années à Nazareth, ville abritant les plus grands lieux sacrés de la chrétienté. La plupart des résidents de la ville étaient jusqu'au milieu du vingtième siècle de confession chrétienne. Toutefois, dans les dernières décennies, la majorité de la population est composé de Musulmans. C'est dans ce contexte que Nazareth préparait les célébrations marquant l'arrivée du nouveau millénaire, dont l'élaboration de son plan de développement touristique «Nazareth 2000». Les nombreuses complexités qui caractérisent la ville sont malheureusement apparues, parmi les plus frappantes est le cas de l'aménagement de la place centrale qui a suscité un âpre conflit. Cet article étudie le développement du tourisme par une ville en prise avec un conflit culture
En zonas caracterizadas por sus conflictos políticos, nacionales, culturales y religiosos, cuestiones de conservación y desarrollo quedan muy compejas. Un ejemplo de esta tensión es evidente en los acontecimientos que han tenido lugar durante la última decada en la ciudad de Nazaret, lugar de algunos de los sitios más sagrados del cristianismo. Hasta mediados del siglo veinte, la mayor parte de los habitantes de la ciudad eran cristianos. Sin embargo, durante las últimas décadas, los musulmanes han llegado a constituir la mayoría de la población. Contra este escenario, la ciudad de Nazaret empezó a prepararse para el año milenario, planes que incluyeron la formulación del plan ‘Nazaret 2000’ para el desarrollo turístico de la ciudad. Desafortunadamente, las muchas complejidades de la ciudad surgieron rápidamente, uno de los más importantes ejemplos siendo la lucha sobre la nueva plaza mayor planeada para la ciudad. Este papel examina el desarrollo de turismo para la ciudad dentro de estas condiciones de conflicto cultural.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by The Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 832/03). The authors also thank Tamar Sofer for drawing the maps and figures, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
Notes
1 The survey took place on five different days in during March to May 2005. Two of the sample days took place on weekends in order to make it more representative, since Israeli visitors are more abundant on weekends while the international visitors do not have any specific pattern in relation to the day of the week. In each of the days a random sample of visitors to the market that had a different appearance than the local population were approached as they left the premises of the market. The relatively low number of respondents on each day reflects the low interest of tourists to Nazareth to visit sites other than the Basilica of the Annunciation. The survey has an over-representation of tourists from Asia and an under-representation of North American visitors, however, in terms of religious affiliations the survey represents the main trends for incoming tourists to Israel.