Concern in Haifa: "The city is not prepared to receive the Champions League tourists"

The mayor announced that "the stadium and hotels are prepared" for the Maccabi Haifa games, but the council members are upset: "There are not enough rooms, the municipality was not prepared in time"

Yoav Itiel

08/28/2022

Sunday, August 28, 2022, 6:20 p.m

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Summary of Maccabi Haifa's victory 1:4 over Maccabi Netanya (Sport 1)

Following Maccabi Haifa's qualification for the Champions League, there is great excitement in the city of Haifa, which is expected to host the best soccer teams in the world at the municipal stadium, but there is also concern.

The Champions League reserves thousands of tickets for fans who are supposed to come to watch the international games, and there are those in the city who are worried that it is not prepared to host them.

For example, a member of the city council and chairman of the "Youth for Haifa" association, Kirill Kartnik, who is also a "burnt" football fan. He says that as far as he knows, at least 5,000 tickets have been reserved for tourists who are supposed to arrive from Europe and claims that the mayor's announcement from last week, D Rabbi Einat Kalish Rotem, that "Europe is going to come to Haifa, the stadium and the hotels are ready for everyone who comes" - baseless and true only on its face.

"For sure tourists will come, the question is whether the city in general and the city hotels in particular are prepared for these masses," says Kratnik.

At least the stadium is set up and ready (Photo: Maor Alxalsi)

According to a brief check he made, hotels in Haifa currently have 1,593 rooms according to the CBS data and 1,850 according to the hotel association. He points out that two new hotels in the German colony whose construction has been completed are still awaiting approval from the city engineer, and he is willing to assume that there are actually 2,500 rooms - He says that he is afraid that it will not be enough, especially in light of the high occupancy rates in the city's hotels in recent months even without soccer tourism. He also notes that there are also Israeli fans who will come from far away and are expected to increase the need and demand for hotel rooms as well.

"What is the municipality doing to prepare For the upcoming games?

What is the municipality doing to receive the tourists who will come?

After all, there aren't enough rooms in the city," he wondered in a query he submitted today (Sunday) to the mayor. "What is the municipality doing to leave a good taste for the tourists who will come?" He mentions, for example, special events and productions that he was looking forward to in preparation for the games that Haifa will host and the tourists that will follow them.

According to him, "The Champions League games are an excellent opportunity to place Haifa on the international tourist map", he says that he expects the mayor to "prepare accordingly", and adds: "In our situation, any tourist who comes here and invests money in local businesses is a blessing to the city. Mayor Did the city want Barcelona? So this is its chance."

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"Barcelona wanted? So this is her chance."

Mayor Dr. Einat Kalish Rotem (Photo: Shlomi Gabai)

The member of the city council, the chairman of the Jewish Home faction in Haifa, who is also the chairman of the Haifa Tourism and Recreation Association (Eftah), Yoav Harmati, says that "there is a problem." According to him, "Haifa is not prepared to receive 5,000 tourists from abroad , 2,500 is its upper limit because it is in addition to normal tourism. But my bigger problem with the mayor's statement is the lack of long-term planning by the municipality of Haifa, which was not conducted in time with its partners to accommodate such a volume of tourists. Between the administration of the Haifa municipality and the government offices in general and the Ministry of Tourism in particular. There is no mention of the city's readiness two hours or two days or two months before the tourists arrive. This is something she should have taken care of from the beginning of her term and unfortunately there has been a stagnation, not to mention a retreat, since she has been in office."

The mayor of Haifa chose not to address the claims.

• sport

• Israeli soccer

• Super League

Tags

• Maccabi Haifa