Donald Trump causes tension, impacts tourism, in Bethlehem. So Christian of him.

Damaged Virgin Mary statue in Bethlehem.

Courtesy of Vanguard:  

With Christmas just some hours away, tensions are simmering in the city of Bethlehem, Jesus birthplace and the region over President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. 

The controversial December 6 announcement by Trump unleashed demonstrations and clashes, including in the Israeli-occupied Bethlehem, where Christians will mark the birth of Jesus in a midnight mass. 

Bethlehem is normally flooded by tourists at this time of year, but has at times appeared almost empty of visitors as nearby clashes between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli army keep people away. 

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said “dozens” of groups had pulled out of planned visits after being scared off by the announcement and subsequent violence. 

“Of course this created a tension around Jerusalem and this diverted attention from Christmas,” the Catholic church’s top official in Jerusalem said of Trump’s announcement, but stressing that Christmas celebrations would go ahead as planned. 

Of course the official word is that tourism is up, but that is from Netanyahu's ministry of tourism, so much like what comes out of the Trump White House it should probably be completely disregarded.

That is of course unless you would choose to believe a government official trying to tamp down fears of possible violence in such a sacred place, or an archbishop who is merely observing the facts on the ground.

I really think this declaring of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is going to have long term negative effects on the region that could long outlive Trump's hopefully brief presidency.

The "Trump Slump" continues.

Courtesy of Forbes:  

After the announcement of the first two travel bans in January and March, the number of international travelers arriving in the U.S. has dramatically dropped, according to ForwardKeys, a European travel-prediction firm. 

Looking at the number of U.S. inbound arrivals – or the number of international tourists arriving at airports around the country – the firm found that the number of visitors dropped 1.3% following the announcement of the first travel ban on January 27. On June 26, when the second ban was partially re-instated, inbound visitors dropped again by 2.4%. 

Experts expected to see falling arrivals following the first executive announcement in January, when European interest in visiting the U.S. fell 12% but to see the number of arrivals impacted so quickly is startling.

“The confusing and convoluted travel bans have done nothing but worsen the country's reputation around the world,” said Lee Abbamonte, an American travel expert who has been to every country in the world, in an email. Although he believes there should be a vetting process, he says that as it stands now, it is too stringent, and confusing for many international citizens. 

A small percentage drop in arrivals is no small potatoes when translated into a dollar amount. In 2016, the U.S. travel and tourism industry generated over $1.5 trillion in economic output, supporting 7.6 million jobs, according to SelectUSA, an international trade analyst firm. That represents 2.7% of overall GDP.

Estimates are that this slump is costing the American economy billions of dollars.

I reported on this slump back in April, but apparently it has become much worse.

I guess that Trump has made America so great again that nobody wants to visit it anymore.

Good job.

P.S. Oh and by the way, travel to other countries is actually up.

Our friend Dennis Zaki has a new, very informative page about all things Alaska.

So Dennis has been working on this rather incredible website for awhile now and late last night he decided to launch it publicly.

It is called Alaska Trekker, and it is chock full of interesting facts, amazing original photos and video of the Alaska outdoors, and even information on travel to and within the state.

Dennis did this purely out of frustration that there wasn't already a page that had all of the things that people are looking for when they are thinking of making a visit to our fair state.

Personally I am just happy that now people will get to see some of the amazing pictures that Dennis has been sharing with me for years.  The guy is really good!

Anyhow if you have a moment head on over and leave a comment. I know he will appreciate it.

One of the last Palin-bots standing wants to launch survey into how Palin has impacted tourism in Alaska. Here let me help, remember how that giant meteor impacted the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago? Yeah like that.

"Anecdotal evidence suggest that when Sarah Palin is a factor in travel to Alaska, tourists spend up to three times as much as those where she's not a factor." I'm sorry is that "anecdotal evidence" just another way of saying "facts I pulled out of my ass?" And what is with the flag hanging in the background? Does this guy think that makes people more likely to believe his bullshit?

By the way some of the programs that he lists as having come AFTER Palin's crappy reality show were either already planned before hers was filmed, or had already been airing before hers was filmed. In other words she does NOT get to take credit for them.

This is from the You Tube site:

US for Palin is running a survey to determine how and to what extent former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin impacts tourism to Alaska. The survey currently has 97 responses from people who have traveled there and 93 from those who did not. Trends in the data suggest that the survey needs to focus exclusively on people who have traveled to Alaska. To be statistically valid within a /-5% margin of error, responses from 300 people who have traveled to Alaska are needed. This project, which currently has nearly $300 invested in it will need $1,500 to complete. Sponsors at any amount will be acknowledged on US for Palin and syndicate sites. Those who sponsor at $100 or more will receive the acknowledgement and a copy of Our Sarah: Made in Alaska, signed by the authors, Chuck Heath Sr. and Jr. - father and brother of Gov. Palin.

"Thanks for wasting your time on this survey, now we are going to punish you by making you read this piece of mythological moose crap."

Look I can save this idiot a lot of time by telling him that it is universally accepted here in Alaska that Palin caused a LOT of people to have a negative view of our state, and just on this blog alone I have been told by dozens of people that they changed their plans to visit due exclusively to Sarah Palin. and what she represents.

Of course his sample will be skewed because he is reaching out to the handful of people left who actually like Snowdrift Snooki, and I have to say he is being pretty confident to think there are 300 of them left who will respond to his survey, and give him $1,500 to launch is so-called "economic impact study."

By the way as of this post there have ONLY been $490.00 raised, from nine donations, in twelve days, even though he has plastered it over every pro-Palin site in existence. Which in my opinion tells you quite a lot right there.