The Journal of Tourism and Peace Research, 1(2), 2011, pp. 41-52 Jafar Subhi Suleiman and Badaruddin Mohamed, Profiling Visitors to Palestine: The Case of Bethlehem City 41 Profiling Visitors to Palestine: The Case of Bethlehem City Jafar Subhi Suleiman, School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, abahre2006@yahoo.com Badaruddin Mohamed, School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, bada@usm.my _________________________________________________________________________ Abstract Regardless of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians a large number of international tourists visit the Holy Land every day. Despite the fact that people visit Palestine on daily basis simple information about visitors’ profile to Palestinian tourism places and trip characteristics is not visible in the tourism academic literature. This information is necessary for marketing purposes. Thus, the major aim of this paper was to profile international visitors to Bethlehem city in the West Bank. About 300 questionnaires were randomly distributed in popular places in Bethlehem and 198 usable questionnaires were completed. Like in many other world communities, tourism in Palestine is needed to maintain local livelihoods and bring prosperity. Keywords: Bethlehem, Palestinian tourism, profiling visitors. ________________________________________________________________________ An Introduction to Impact of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on Palestinian Tourism The Middle East region is widely regarded as an unsafe destination due to the Iraq war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other factors. In this context, Palestine has played a vital role since the 1993 peace agreement that led to an increase in the number of visitors and pilgrims to Palestine, Israel and neighboring countries. The policy of Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities ought them to be responsible for carrying out the tourism development strategy; through the tourism promotion policies for locals, regionalists, and internationals as well as operating, maintaining and protecting all Palestinian Authority (PA) cultural tourism sites, along with other tourism activities in Palestine (Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR), 2001). However, the Palestinian tourism sector has suffered since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, mainly in the Palestinian Territories (East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip). Some researchers have discussed Israel’s actions against the Palestinian tourism sector, and have also highlighted the extent to which inbound tourists and pilgrims come to Palestine but stay for only a few hours (Sizer, 1999; Al-Rimmawi, 2003; Isaac, 2010a; 2010b; 2010c; 2009; 2008). This is attributed to the negative campaigns associated with Israeli tour operators who dominate the tourism sector in Palestine. These mislead international tourists by presenting a false image of Palestine as a dangerous and insecure place, causing a slowdown in tourist numbers. Other obstacles include the shortage of services and facilities offered by the Palestinian tourism ministry in collaboration with the private sector. Sizer (1999), who works as a British tour operator, listed the difficulties and a number of ethical issues that were encountered by tour operators, pilgrims and their leaders in dealing with the Israeli authorities. The breakdown of the peace process in September 2000 had a great effect on the economic conditions in Palestine because of restrictions, roadblocks, the apartheid wall, and separation