The upcoming Sukkos holiday (eve of October 16-25) is expected to see record numbers of visitors as both hotels and apartment rentals appear to exceed all predictions.
In recent years, many tourists have rented apartments rather than stay in hotels.
Thanks to websites like Airbnb.com, Israelis are increasingly making their apartments available, many using the money to stay at hotels or travel abroad.
Newspaper ads in the U.S. also advertised apartments with most indicating that it was a “kosher” apartment and many even offering a Sukkah. Hoteliers are indicating that occupancy will exceed earlier predictions by the Israeli Hotels Association.
Although it expected local hotels to fill up to near capacity for the Jewish High Holidays, local hotels say that they did better than the 80 percent capacity during the Rosh Hashanah season. Jerusalem area hotels are also expected to exceed the 80 percent capacity for Sukkos.
The challenge for luxury hotels like the Waldorf Astoria has always been to maintain high occupancy levels during non-holiday periods, but with a growing number of choices that has proven to be elusive.
Experts say that a growing number of foreign nationals are also buying luxury apartments such as Jerusalem Estates in the Schneller Compound, which means that they may replace a hotel stay with staying in apartments. Despite all of this speculation, for now the hotels in Jerusalem and elsewhere will be full.
