Answers to the Tshuva tourism entrepreneur who wishes to establish a gambling city in the Arava
A group of Eilat hoteliers visited Aqaba. The hoteliers were impressed by the boom in tourism development in Aqaba and returned to Eilat terrified. From the impression of the Eilat hoteliers, Aqaba is developing at a fast pace. Luxurious hotels are being built, in about two years there will be about 5,000 rooms in Aqaba, which means that Aqaba is progressing towards a status that will "jeopardize Eilat's advantage as the first tourist city in the region".
Recall that in Eilat there are about 15,000 rooms, some of which are used as staff quarters. According to the hoteliers, "to stand up to the competition, to maintain the 'superiority', we must expand the occupancy of the hotels in Eilat." is that so?
So let's check things out: I will go ahead and say that for many years I have been demanding, demanding, suggesting, reminding and imploring all parties (municipality, Nature Reserves Authority, Ministry of the Environment) to carry out a carrying capacity survey, a survey whose results will show and demonstrate the carrying capacity of the Gulf of Eilat and the surrounding desert, How many divers can enjoy the coral reef without causing damage, how many travelers can the desert carry without harm, how many vacationers have space along the beaches.
We will emphasize and explain that like any natural resource both the sea and the desert are affected by human presence and activity, if we do not want the effect to be negative it is important to know and understand the totality of natural and human factors, because although there are hoteliers who think that "tourists come to enjoy the hotels", it is clear to anyone with their head in the right place Because the source of Eilat's attraction is the sea and the desert.
In order not to harm the source of attraction, one must know to what extent it can be exploited. To date, no carrier survey has been conducted. Is it possible that the reason is the pressure of short-sighted hoteliers?
Back to the fear of competition, again and again, the source of attraction is the sea and the desert. From an informed point of view, it is clear that the advantage is our neighbor, the Jordanians have a beach three times longer than Eilat and in the hinterland a large and beautiful desert, with unique and special points of attraction, compared to Egypt... the spectacular beaches and the huge desert have no competitors. One of the advantages of Eilat is in its small dimensions... (as in the whole country), the reality of many centers of attraction over a small area makes it possible to visit and get an impression of many different landscapes in a short time.
Another advantage is of course the accessibility to other parts of the country: the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, historical and religious sites, but this advantage is not significant since we are witnessing the crossing of borders for the purpose of daily visits to important sites in the country. Eilat has one clear and permanent advantage over its neighbors: it can be defined as openness, or "westernization", which is expressed in the multitude of night entertainment centers, the options for "going out", the possibility to sit bare-chested on the beach, and more. When you consider all the data, this is the only advantage.
In return for this advantage, tourists today are asked to pay thirty to fifty percent more than their neighbors, is there any justification for the demand? Add to that the security hysteria that attacks us every morning and the result is clear to see (about eight years). It turns out that market forces have determined that there is no justification for paying a high price, so tourists choose the neighbors and not Eilat.
The justification for a high price will be when: the pile of garbage called "Promenade" will be cleared, the noise on the beaches will stop, facilities such as the Navy, the port, and Kacha will unite and clear beaches for the benefit of people, service providers for tourists (taxi drivers) will fulfill their duties honestly and professionally, since apart from "Westernization "And the openness, the only advantage that Eilat can offer is quality.
Back to the frightened hoteliers, frightened to the point that for more than ten years they have been pressing against the use of the airport in Aqaba, regardless of the future of the field that serves the residents of Eilat and its visitors on domestic flights, there is constant pressure to establish an international field that will serve tourism, a field that will replace Ovda, after Having listed the facts, the hoteliers' fear of using the field in Aqaba can be understood, but does this fear justify the construction of an airport with a huge investment, while harming natural and environmental values?
This is the time to decide, gentlemen, if we live in peace, if the Jordanians are not prevented from using the Aqaba field, (if there is no peace, the field in its proposed location is not safe anyway), there is no logical reason why tourist planes should not land in Aqaba, be driven on a special route to the west, to the border, to the place where it will be established Border terminal (Israeli). Such a terminal will be seven kilometers from Eilat. What is simpler, cheaper, justified, correct and more logical? Perhaps the honor of the president who strives for sharing and developing relations and lends his hand for a simple and reasonable sharing of an airline route will come and go?
And what is the answer?
One of the "joiners" to the development frenzy in the area is the billionaire Tshuva. After the tycoon "dropped" his intentions to support the "Sea Canal", he announced his initiative to establish hospitality centers along the Arava. The initiative is based on water desalination in Aqaba, the flow of fresh water into lakes around which hotels, recreation and entertainment facilities will be built. Anyone who has been to Las Vegas will understand the vision.
I prefer that the comparison be to Sun City in the DRAP, since the tycoon is talking about numbers that are not suitable for the Arabah, none of the residents of Ein Yahav would be interested in living near Karach. None of the residents of the kibbutzim will choose to be a neighbor of a gambling town, therefore the example that the tycoon should copy is Sun City, a green center surrounded by a number of hotels and entertainment centers, surrounded by the desert. Since it must be assumed that the project will not be built adjacent to agricultural farms on the Jordanian side, then the logical area would be south of the mouth of the Nahal Chion, in the Yaprok desert on the Israeli side, or north of Ke-e-Saidin on the Jordanian side.
To the west is an open flat area, to the east are sand dunes, this area is far enough from agricultural settlements on the Israeli side, it has no irreplaceable natural values, development in this area will not result in significant environmental damage, this is of course again on the condition that the project sheds its megalomaniac suit and assumes reasonable dimensions.
The tycoon predicts the desalination of two billion cubic meters that will be pumped into the lakes and from them in the Arava to the Dead Sea... Sounds good, but once again it is important to check what pumping in such a quantity will do to the Gulf of Eilat. In order to reduce the (negative) impact, it is possible to pump from a maximum depth, south of Aqaba, where there is also space on the coast for the construction of desalination facilities. After pooling at the hotel site, the water in the Araba stream will flow to the Dead Sea, thus the project will also contribute to the dying sea! At first glance, when I read Tshuva's idea, I objected. On second thought when weighing the data and possibilities, the resistance fades. Provided, of course, that the venture will be established on a local scale and not in a megalomaniac attempt to compete with "New World" ventures.
9 תגובות
Tov will answer if he hires an ecological consultant to plan his projects. It is evident that he has a desire to do good (which does not contradict the fact that he will make a lot of money, but why be green - jealous).
If he plans the project in cooperation with an ecological consultancy, much of the opposition will disappear and maybe even be remembered favorably in the annals (literally...).
Thanks
Sooner or later there will be no choice to supply water to the area
It will be necessary to pray more with sea water, in the past I also wrote that:
"In order to stop the drying of the wadis that go down to the Arabah, the pumping of salty water from the Arabah must be reduced and the pumping from the Gulf must be increased"
Therefore:
1 - It is clear that pumping large amounts of water will have an effect,
In my opinion, the more the pumping goes further south and deeper in the gulf, the less the damage will be,
2 - What the Dead Sea lacks is water,
I wrote against the injection of salt water (and brines) that would harm the composition of the Dead Sea water,
The intention of the answer (to my understanding) is to flow the water from the lake(s) in the project
(water dumped in Aqaba) to the Dead Sea,
This water will have the same quality as water that flowed in the past in Jordan, in streams to the east during floods,
The injection of (non-salty) water is a major part of solving the Dead Sea problem.
But again: every step, it's important to do it in moderation while checking all the options
To prevent mistakes that will harm the environment and its inhabitants.
Leder. Assaf Rosenthal,
I didn't understand the following part:
It is enough to reduce the (negative) impact, it is possible to pump from a maximum depth, south of Aqaba, where there is also space on the coast for the construction of desalination facilities, after pooling at the hotel site, the water will flow in the Araba stream to the Dead Sea, thus the project will also contribute to the dying sea!"
You talk about the flow of water into the Dead Sea as a positive thing here, but won't the flow of fresh water into the Dead Sea change its composition? Until now I remember that you were against the discharge of water into the Dead Sea.
Nanosaf, on August 15.8.08, XNUMX, you wrote an article about saving the Dead Sea, as part of Tshuva's project:
"The Gulf of Eilat is a body of water with no outlet (north), a special and unique body of water with a rotational flow regime, life (fish, corals, vegetation) depends on the water flow regime, pumping hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water will affect the flow regime and cause it to change, Do you know how this change will affect the fauna in the bay?"
Won't the pumping of water to create the lakes also be greater? And what will be the effect of this Gulf time?
Perhaps my questions stem from ignorance of the matter, I do not have much knowledge about ecosystems, and I would appreciate it if you could explain both points...
I didn't understand from the article how I was going to make money from it.
When an article is written with extensive consideration, as Dr. Assaf Rosenthal has done, I have nothing but
To thank him, for his extensive aspects... and indeed, Michael was right and hit the target in his exhaustive response.
And the one who understands, is indeed supposed to understand, in the end.
Besides, it won't hurt us, among other things, to return thanks and appreciation to Zarchin, who worked until his old age
In the water desalination project, and not many knew how to respect it... it's time to also respect the "strange-strange"
that we, unfortunately, drink from their ideas..and then, unfortunately, forget their patronage, we must..be recognized
In fact, on top of them, science is educated and rides.
I despise anyone who expresses contempt towards someone, supposedly because of something he said, without pointing out even one thing wrong with his statements.
I say this in general and without referring to this or that article or this or that response, but I hope that the "understander" will understand.
The writer is not connected to reality. People like him poison the public with ridiculous and utopian ideas that are not sustainable.
It would be better for the writer to check how many fish cages there are on the Jordanian side and how they contributed to improving the condition of the corals in the gulf...
contempt!
Perfecting=>weighting