Terrorist threats against U.S. citizens and facilities have prompted the State Department to warn against traveling to Israel, shuttered two embassies and chilled the outlook for business and holiday travel.
Travel agents say bookings to the Middle East have collapsed since violence between Palestinians and Israelis erupted and the destroyer USS Cole was bombed while in Yemen.
Many travelers are canceling scheduled trips, while others say they are still planning to proceed, but with misgivings.
Seminars International, which takes special interest groups to the Middle East, postponed tours for two church groups scheduled to be in the region now. They are hoping to make the trip in May.
“It was a joint decision,” said travel agent Mike Huff. “We felt uncomfortable about them going, and they felt uncomfortable.”
College groups booked to visit Israel in January will not go on that leg of the trip, Huff said.
“So far it hasn’t hurt us because people have postponed or changed their itineraries,” Huff said. “But if it continues for the long haul, it would hurt us. We send a lot of people to Israel.”
On Wednesday, Richard Boucher, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, reiterated the department’s Tuesday warnings about travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and an earlier worldwide warning in reaction to the bombing of the Cole.
In Tuesday’s warning, the department said that the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate near the Old City in Jerusalem could “suspend public services” to protect the safety of employees.
“We take security very seriously,” said Boucher, noting that U.S. embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Ivory Coast in Africa are closed because of threats. Various public areas of other embassies in the Middle East were closed Wednesday because of continuing security concerns.
Barbara Wielgosz, owner of Executive Travel Service, says she is warning would-be travelers about the State Department’s advisory.
“We tell them that Americans are not looked upon as friends, so do you want to go or don’t you when people in the country don’t want you there?” Wielgosz said. “Most of the time they don’t go.”
And many who already have travel booked to those countries are seeking to cancel. “You better believe they are,” Wielgosz said. “You only have one life. Why would you want to put it in jeopardy?”
Despite the warnings, Fred Stricker, an Old Testament professor at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, said an alumni group he is leading to the Holy Land at Christmas is still hoping to make the trip.
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“We have not decided. We are still planning to go. We have a travel agent who is very sympathetic with the situation and as a result we don’t have to make a final decision until Nov. 20,” he said.
He said he is planning to pay close attention to the State Department warnings in arriving at a final decision for the group, which is slated to sing in Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve.