VOA双语新闻 ：2010年中东圣地旅游创纪录

　　The Holy Land enjoyed a flood of visitors last year, which benefited Israelis and Palestinians alike.

去年前往圣地的观光客接踵而至，旅游的经济效益让以色列和巴勒斯坦都受益匪浅。

It was a record year for tourism in Israel thanks to a lull 1 in violence. There were 3.45 million visitors in 2010, 14 percent more than the previous record two years ago.

由于暴力事件减少，以色列去年迎来了旅游观光的新记录。2010年的到访游客多达345万人，比上一年增加14%。

Mark Feldman, who heads the Israeli travel agency Zion Tours, says tourism is booming.

马克.费尔德曼是以色列锡安旅游公司的负责人，他说，旅游在迅速发展。

"More and more flights… that's the biggest reason we are breaking 3 million for the first time," said Feldman. "We have charter flights from London, from Copenhagen, all over. We have conferences, congresses, delegations 2. It's bringing in $20 billion of revenue."

他说：“来往的班机越来越多。这就是我们首次突破300万游客的最主要原因。我们有来自伦敦、哥本哈根以及世界各地的包机，我们接待会议，接待了无数代表团，带来的经济效益达200亿美元。”

Most of the visitors were Jews and Evangelical Christians 4. Some 625,000 Americans came, more than any other country.

多数游客是犹太人和福音派基督徒，来自美国的游客有62万5000人，为各国游客人数中之最。

Richard Martin of Atlanta, Georgia said he decided 5 to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, because the security situation has improved.

来自美国乔治亚州亚特兰大的理查德.马丁说，他到圣地去朝圣的决定是由于当地安全局势有了改善。

"It's wonderful being in Israel, just knowing that you're in the place where Jesus walked and lived and ministered for the three years. And we feel perfectly 6 safe," said Martin.

他说：“来到以色列感觉很好，踏上耶稣基督曾经走过的土地，他生活和贡献了三年的地方，让人感觉非常美妙。我们在这儿也非常安全。”

Many Christian 3 tourists are also visiting two biblical towns under Palestinian control, Bethlehem and Jericho, both of which welcomed a record number of people in 2010. Some 1.5 million tourists visited Jesus' traditional birthplace in Bethlehem, 50 percent more than the previous year.

很多前来旅游的基督徒也一定参观巴勒斯坦人控制下的两个圣城，伯利恒和杰里科，这两个城市2010年接待的游人也创了记录。有大约150人参观了耶稣传统的诞生地伯利恒，比上一年增加了50%。

Bethlehem businessman Ibrahim Salah says it is a boost to the Palestinian economy.

伯利恒商人易卜拉欣.萨拉赫说，旅游的商机给巴勒斯坦经济注入了活力。

"We want business," said Salah. "This is what we want, you know, to bring food to the table to our children and our families. I mean when you have lots of people then usually you have good business."

他说：“我们需要生意，我们盼望着旅游兴旺，这样我们才能保证我们的孩子、我们的家庭不愁吃穿。游客多通常会带来好生意。”

But the boom in tourism is fragile, especially because the Middle East peace process is deadlocked 7 over Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements. Israelis and Palestinians are well aware that in the recent past, eruptions 8 of violence have scared the tourists away.

但是这种旅游的兴盛是脆弱的，特别是因为以色列扩建犹太人定居点的问题导致中东和平进程陷入僵局。以色列和巴勒斯坦人非常了解一点，因为不久前的的经历让他们清楚地记得，一旦发生暴力冲突，朝圣的信徒和参观的游客就会害怕，不敢前来观光旅游。