Israel Land Authority published two tenders for the marketing of hotel land for the construction of a desert hotel, adjacent to Yeruham Lake Park, as well as for the establishment of four complexes for desert tourism with a tourist-agricultural designation to be established near the town.

Soon it is expected to publish another tender for the construction of an urban hotel, to be established in the heart of a neighborhood in the town. The new hotel that will be built in Mount Shashash and will spread over about 25 dunams and will include up to 250 rooms on two floors. The farms will spread over an area of about 315 dunams in aggregate and will be able to build a minimum of 96 guest rooms together (at least 24 units per farm).

The town is now calling for entrepreneurs who wish to integrate into the extensive tourism industry that has grown in recent years, the one that began with the establishment of the Desert Iris Hotel about 8 years ago, and now employs hundreds of residents who make a living from tourism.

The new hotels, along with the agricultural farms, will join general investments of over 100 million ILS that have been invested in the town to promote tourist infrastructure in less than a decade, including, among other things, the huge development of Lake Yeruham Park, which included the construction of promenades, the restoration of the lake, picnic areas, observation areas and a pier, as well as a glamping complex Combined with an overnight parking lot for caravans, the cost of which is estimated at 25 million ILS.

Alongside these projects, an amphitheater with 1,000 seats and a visitor center is expected to be built soon in the heart of the park at a total cost of about 25 million ILS. Later, another tender is expected to be opened for the construction of a desert hotel on the outskirts of Mount Avnon. The purpose of these moves is to increase the hotel supply in the area, which is currently lacking lacking, and does not offer a sufficient variety of accommodations for those wishing to travel in the Israeli desert, whose number is estimated at one and a half million per year. This is over 1,500 new rooms that will join the existing offer, which currently stands at only 240.

Chely Alalof Yom Tov, CEO of the Economic Society for the Development of Yeruham said that: “In recent years, Yeruham has become an attractive tourist destination for both the Israeli and international audiences. Along with the slowdown in tourist arrivals since the Corona crisis, there has been an increase in demand from the Israeli public and now returning tourists as well. The accelerated development of the tourist infrastructure has also led to an increase in demand from entrepreneurs and companies, local and non-local, who wish to invest in the town. All of these have turned Yeruham into a tourist destination and tourism in the town into a significant economic anchor and a key engine for growth in the town”.