Master of Arts in Pilgrimage and Tourism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pilgrimage and hospitality have been a defining feature of the economy and society of the Holy Land and Palestine for 2000 years. The economic infrastructure of Bethlehem itself has been built on the foundations of the needs of visitors to the town. Hotels and restaurants, olive wood souvenirs makers and tourist vendors, guides, as well as cultural industries such as museums, archaeological and exhibition sites, have all provided employment for the city. This paper describes the final module of the TEMPUS programme “research papers” combined with the first tourism conference in Bethlehem University and the implications of this conference for the Palestinian tourism industry.