[ti:Bethlehem Businesses Expect Second Slow Christmas Season] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Before the COVID-19 pandemic, [00:02.88]the old city of Bethlehem in the West Bank [00:06.64]was busy with visitors in the weeks leading up to Christmas. [00:11.76]But for the last two years, hotels are empty or closed. [00:17.32]No one is coming to the shops. [00:20.36]A historic piece of woodwork [00:23.08]inside the famous Church of the Nativity is being cleaned. [00:29.04]However, not very many people will see how good it looks this year. [00:35.64]Bethlehem, known from the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus, [00:40.84]is inside an area of the Middle East controlled by Israel, [00:45.48]known as the West Bank. [00:48.76]Israel opened to visitors who have been vaccinated earlier in November, [00:54.96]but not many people are coming to Bethlehem. [00:59.48]In 2019, the city was busy with people visiting historic places [01:05.72]such as the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square. [01:11.84]Aladdin Subuh runs a shop near the square. [01:16.56]He said he has no customers. [01:19.68]He only opens the door to let in fresh air. [01:24.92]"For two years, no business," he said. "It's like dying slowly." [01:32.64]The global health crisis reduced visitors in both Israel and Palestine. [01:39.24]But the city of Bethlehem's economy depends on visitors, [01:43.36]so the situation is especially bad. [01:47.44]In the first part of this month, 30,000 visitors came to Israel. [01:53.88]In November 2019, over 400,000 people came. [02:00.64]There is some government help [02:02.32]for business owners in Bethlehem, but not much. [02:07.12]Majed Ishaq is marketing director [02:10.96]for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. [02:14.24]He said the Palestinian government is offering [02:17.96]some businesses who depend on visitors from other nations [02:22.96]ways to pay less tax and some new training. [02:29.12]Ishaq's organization is working to encourage [02:32.16]more people to come to Bethlehem this year. [02:34.76]But Fadi Kattan is not hopeful. [02:39.68]He is a chef and runs a hotel in the old part of Bethlehem. [02:45.60]"I don't think tourism will come back very soon," he said. [02:49.68]He closed his hotel in 2020 [02:53.36]and does not plan to open it before Christmas. [02:58.28]Kattan said it will take a long time [03:02.12]for the city to recover from the COVID-19 restrictions, [03:06.00]and business owners want to be sure [03:09.24]they can stay open for a long time if they re-open. [03:15.12]While people like Kattan are uncertain about the future. [03:19.00]Work goes on at Bethlehem's historic sites. [03:23.04]At the Church of the Nativity, workers are finishing [03:27.80]a cleaning and repair project that started in 2013. [03:32.80]Gold tiles and marble floors look new again. [03:37.60]Workers put holiday lights in Manger Square. [03:41.64]Unlike in 2019, visitors these days [03:46.16]can enter the church without a long wait. [03:50.60]More work needs to be done, however, [03:53.36]raising the total cost of repair to almost $20 million. [03:59.12]Saki Pappadopoulos is a woodcarver working [04:02.88]on another old piece at the city's Greek Orthodox Church. [04:08.40]He said the project was "a big challenge" that took three years. [04:12.68]But it is almost finished. [04:15.92]Issa Thaljieh is a Greek Orthodox religious leader [04:19.96]at the Church of the Nativity. [04:22.88]He said life is slowly getting better. [04:26.16]He said the small groups coming to visit are a good sign. [04:31.56]Without visitors, he said, "Bethlehem is nothing." [04:36.96]I'm Dan Friedell. [04:38.48]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM