Do We Need More Tourism Studies & Masterplans? – A critical review of past years’ studies of the Palestinian tourism sector and their practical applicability to actual sector needs

Given the overall size of its sector, Palestine’s tourism industry might arguably be one of the most heavily analysed and studied tourism sectors worldwide. There is hardly an international organization, which has not commissioned a tourism study or a master plan for “destination Palestine”. However, the sheer number of studies and plans might well be an indication that most of them end up dying on a shelf somewhere rather than being used as blueprints and guidance for action.

This session will take a critical look at the past years’ studies and discuss their practical applicability to actual private and public sector needs as well as address methodological approaches regarding qualitative and quantitative data aggregation.

In an open-floor discussion, we will address the question of whether more studies and masterplans are needed and if so, what shall/can be their objective and how a strong linkage and relevancy to actual sector development needs can be assured.

As with all tourism talk sessions, this episode is open to all tourism practitioners from the public and private sides as well as anyone with an interest in Palestinian tourism.

We especially invite representatives of commissioning parties (locally and internationally), tourism consultants and researchers to join the discussion.

Some material will be shared ahead of the session.

EJTDP’s Tourism Talks are hybrid events: Join us in person at: EJTDP’s Tourism Development Hub (Al-Yacoubi Street #6, Jerusalem) or online. A unique link to join virtually will be provided after registration.