Local hoteliers will face multiple challenges, but the global corporate operators have limited exposure.

The emerging war in Israel will no doubt have a great impact on the hotel business in the country and region.

Most major carriers have stopped flying to Tel Aviv, even as many pilgrim groups are currently there to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles.

“The problem hotels around Israel face is the extended stays of many tourists, who will pay extra for hotels,” Joseph Fischer, former hotelier and current owner of Vision Hospitality & Travel, Tel Aviv, told Hotel Investment Today.

“For hotels to find enough staff (300,000 Israelis have been recruited for active reserve service in the IDF); to have the hotels ready to take tens of thousands of evacuees from the Kibbutzim towns and cities surrounding Gaza; to have good food chain supply during the war which is expected to take weeks isn’t going to be easy.”

Fischer added that outbound travel from Israel to regional destinations will stop completely, noting how Israeli tourists were attacked on Sunday in Alexandria, Egypt. “The government issued a warning, calling all Israelis visiting Arab and Muslim countries to leave those countries immediately,” he added.

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Joseph Fisher is a regular contributor at 4Hoteliers.com with event reporting, news and featured articles.