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Hotel occupancy throughout Israel is expected by the Director-General of the Hotel Association, Shmuel Zurel, to be around 90%. In Eilat, as one of the most sought after destinations, it could well be higher. While much of this figure comprises Israeli tourists enjoying the good weather before settling in for the winter, there are also visitors from abroad, particularly from among the religious sector. Eilat will full of guests during the holidays, and the anticipation of this can already be seen in the shopping areas, where Eilatis are busily preparing for the siege, errr, festivities.
Actually, there are visitors, and visitors. Some represent festivity and togetherness, but some really do represent siege. I noticed an article today in a local Hebrew-language website (‘Eilati') on ‘ten tips to forestall unwanted guests' by Mali Fishman. It was a tongue-in-cheek (mostly anyway!) guide to Eilatis on how to, as my own family used to put it, avoid becoming a free hotel for every child of the friend of the neighbour of your third cousin four times removed who, remembering you fondly from a brief social encounter 20 years ago, wishes to honour you with his presence (and that of his wife and eight kids) in your home for the duration of the holidays. And suchlike.
While at one time hotels were scarce and probably terribly expensive for most Israelis, now they exist in abundance and offer all sorts of attractive packages and deals.
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In addition, there is a plethora of B&Bs, hostels, and rooms/flats for short-term hire. Thus Eilati households should no longer feel obligated to spend every holiday, year after year, cooking and catering and cleaning for a houseful of less than welcome guests. Especially since many Eilatis already spend their holidays at work all day, providing services for people on vacation in Eilat, without coming home to do a second shift of exactly the same in their own house. The famous ‘suitcase by the door' should be given an honourable retirement.
To explain: The suitcase by the door was an old standby so that if you opened the door to unexpected would-be houseguests, you could shove the suitcase at them and say "How nice, you're just in time to carry our suitcases - we're going to [wherever] this year!" When the visitors began outfoxing the Eilatis by saying "Oh, perfect, we're just in time to house-sit for you while you're gone," more inventive excuses began to be conceived, as amusingly detailed in the article mentioned. Or you can just do like we did when our children were small: fill up the house with so many cats, dogs, snakes, mice, gerbils, toads, and other pets that between them and the kids, most guests didn't express an overly exuberant enthusiasm to stay with us to begin with!
Meanwhile, we wish everyone a very happy Rosh Hashanah, and may the hotels overflow with visitors and Eilati homes not - unless they genuinely wish to!
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