increased over the past decade, 255 this growth is not necessarily a healthy or productive one. The expansion in tourism is a direct result of increased visitors, with 1.8 million inbound visits made to the West Bank in the first half of 2019, and the largest share (38 percent) to Bethlehem. 256 In response, businesses in the form of hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, and other tourist services, have opened to accommodate the influx. However, this industry is highly insecure, as it is “positively correlated with periods of varying regional political stability and global economic growth”, whereas in “periods of turmoil and economic uncertainty, tourism and hospitality indicators dip.” 257 For instance, following the Oslo Accords and prior to the Second Intifada, Bethlehem’s tourism industry was expanding with Palestinians preparing for the Bethlehem 2000 vision. 258 As soon as the Second Intifada erupted in 2000, tourism plummeted; this has also occurred with each Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009, 2012, and 2014. 259 Furthermore, tourism in Bethlehem is mostly faith-based, and therefore seasonal, with pilgrimages fluctuating between the high seasons from March and April, and October through December. 260 At other times of the year, tourist businesses experience low traffic and thus lay off workers. As a result, high casualization and underemployment is a natural consequence of this type of industry. As for the Israeli labor market, Palestinians are increasingly resorting to this market for employment, with the highest number of applications for 255 Tourism contributes approximately 14 percent to Palestine’s economy, a notable increase of 5 percent since 2007. As 38 percent of tourists who visit Palestine come to Bethlehem, most of the national GDP increase is gained in Bethlehem. International Trade Center, The State of Palestine National Export Strategy: Tourism Sector Export Strategy 2014-2018, 1, available at: https://www.paltrade.org/ upload/multimedia/admin/2014/10/5448e8c6d8011.pdf 256 PCBS, “The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Tourism Issue a Press Release on the Occasion of World Tourism Day,” press release, 27 September 2019, available at: http://www. pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?lang=en&ItemID=3555 [accessed 28 February 2020]. 257 Hussein Al-Rimmawi & Stephen Butcher, “Trends of Tourism in Bethlehem, Palestine: 1994-2015,” 2015, 328, available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/86431075.pdf 258 Bethlehem 2000 vision was a plan launched in Rome in 1996 by the PA and the UNESCO. The main idea behind the plan was to capitalize on the city’s symbolism and the significance of the year 2000 to develop the Bethlehem area and improve the living conditions of its inhabitants, notably through the modernization of infrastructure. The project also aimed at highlighting the region’s historic and cultural heritage all while reinforcing the Palestinian identity and the nascent culture of peace in the region. See Mehdi Benchelah, “Bethlehem 2000: Preparing for a Rebirth,” UNESCO Sources, no. 111 (April 1999), 14-15, available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000115842 [accessed 28 February 2020]. 259 Hussein Al-Rimmawi & Stephen Butcher, supra 258, 325. 260 Palestinian Market Development Programme, Rapid Market Study Analysis: Quality of Front-Line Workers in Tourism Elements going into TVET Activity (August 2015), 6-10, available at: https://www. bethlehem.edu/document.doc?id=3241 [accessed 28 February 2020]. 70