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In the relatively calm years of the late 1990s, Christian tourists to Israel could easily travel to holy sites in the West Bank. Visitors wanting to travel to the ancient red-rock city of Petra in Jordan could do so on a day trip from Eilat.

The outbreak of the intifada in 2000 put a stop to all of that, and took a major toll on tourism to the region in general.

But things are looking up. The Israeli minister of tourism and his Palestinian counterpart signed an agreement in December allowing tourists to travel freely between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Day tours from Eilat to Petra have resumed.

And 2004 saw increased numbers of tourists visiting the Jewish state.

This was the message of Daniela Aharoni, the new Israel consul for tourism in the Western United States, who is based in Los Angeles.

In the Bay Area for a series of meetings, Aharoni stressed recently that “we feel very optimistic about the future.”

Aharoni said 1999 was one of Israel’s best years for tourism ever, and 2000 continued to see high numbers, with Christians visiting for the millennium. From North America, Israel had about 581,000 tourists in 1999 and the same number in 2000, but that number dropped to 235,000 in 2002, the lowest point in recent years. Last year, there were almost 423,000 North American visitors, meaning numbers were up again, but not back to their pre-intifada levels.

Christians stopped coming in the last four years, but Jews continued to come, she said, though she acknowledged that some of those visitors were Jews who came more than once to show their support.

While the hotels had to lay off workers, all service industries were greatly affected, said Aharoni.

“A lot of businesses that don’t have a direct relationship to tourism suffered a lot. The restaurants, the taxi drivers, the cleaners that used to work with hotels, all saw less business, even the bakers that sold their products to the hotels.”

And while Jewish tourism is very important for the morale of the country as well, the economics of tourism impacts far and wide.

“For every 100,000 tourists that come, that generates 4,000 new jobs, and 20 million shekels or five million dollars in revenue,” she said.

Living in Israel in the early days of the intifada was incredibly difficult, she added. “It was really hard to see the streets of Jerusalem completely empty. Jews coming to visit really helped us so much in every aspect. They filled up the restaurants and hotels, and even Israelis felt they can join the party, in a way, that they could go out and enjoy themselves again.”

Expressing thanks to those Jews who have visited in the past four years, Aharoni said there is a need to bring far more Jews to Israel.

Only 20 percent of some 6 million American Jews have been to Israel, she said, noting that tourism officials are focusing their efforts on the 2 million Jews who have some relationship with Israel but may have never visited. “We as the state of Israel are not able to communicate enough how much tourism really helps Israel,” she said.

“Giving a donation is a novel thing to do, but by coming and by supporting Israel economically, that creates a contact between Israelis and Jews in the diaspora that has much more value than just writing a check.”

Now that things seem to be calming down in the Middle East, the Ministry of Tourism’s marketing department is gearing up to get tourism up to previous levels. The ministry’s Web site, at www.goisrael.com, will have messages that appeal to travelers of all faiths.

Though the budget shrank considerably during the difficult years, Aharoni said the ministry is now receiving more funds for marketing.

“We have our loyal markets,” such as the evangelical Christians. “We need to start in that market again. We’re also going to approach the Catholic market.” The recently signed agreement to allow tourists to move easily between Bethlehem and Jerusalem is a big help, she added.

The Hispanic market should also be tapped, she said. “It’s a growing population whose income is different than what it used to be. They have a very strong religious motivation.”

Some press trips for Hispanic journalists are in the works, and that’s only the beginning. “We’re hoping to do a lot of press trips, as they are one of the best tools,” she said. “When a journalist comes and enjoys it, and then writes about it when he comes back, that’s some of the best advertising, as it comes from a deep place.”

And while political analysts are predicting tough times ahead this summer when the disengagement from Gaza begins, Aharoni had this to say: “We pray and hope in Israel that it will go smoothly and without any problems. We in the tourism industry don’t involve ourselves in politics, but our prayers should be that everything will go smoothly and hopefully peace will come to the region because we all need it.”

ISRAEL IN THE GARDENS