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Bedbug sightings bug Big Apple sightseers

31 Oct 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The second reading this Sunday cautions early Christians not to be shaken out of their minds suddenly or alarmed by second-hand stories of the Lord’s imminent return. Stories of bedbugs showing up in New York City landmarks such as the Empire State Building, Bloomingdale’s, and Lincoln Center, as well as anecdotal sightings all over town, are scaring away tourists from the Big Apple just as the holiday season approaches. Sightings of the rust-colored bugs, which are about the size of an apple seed, have surged in New York and around the nation in recent years. It is not known what caused their sudden spread, but experts have theorized that an increase in global travel and the banning of certain pesticides may be partly responsible. The discoveries of the pests at high-profile places, or even in public areas, are often not full-blown infestations. Bloomingdale’s reported finding exactly one bug in the famous department store, the Empire State Building had them in the basement, and Lincoln Center’s were in a dressing room. But those reports, along with bedbug discoveries in movie theaters, hotels, and clothing chain stores, are causing skittish travelers to call off trips planned months ago. Officials in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration are concerned about the effect on the city’s image and $30 billion tourism industry. “You don’t want anything that would dissuade people from coming here,” Bloomberg said. “Hopefully these things come and go, and this will go quickly.” City officials and experts say it is difficult to fully measure the problem, partly because of bedbug stigma and the lack of solid data. The Bloomberg administration fielded 537 complaints in fiscal year 2004, while in 2009 there were nearly 11,000. “It’s gone up incredibly. We were completely blindsided by this,” said Jody L. Gangloff-Kaufmann, urban entomologist in the integrated pest management program at Cornell University, speaking of the bedbug infestations. Source: An article by Sara Kugler Frazier for Associated Press

new york michael bloomberg jody l gangloff-kaufmann tourism lincoln center bloomingdale’s empire state building bed bugs
Israel opens new trail for Christian pilgrims

11 Dec 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“There is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie,” proclaims John the Baptist in this Sunday’s gospel. Christian pilgrims to Israel can now strap on their hiking sandals and take to the new Gospel Trail, 39 miles of integrated paths leading from Mount Precipice on the southern outskirts of Nazareth to the site of ancient Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Developed by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and the Jewish National Fund, the project has the enthusiastic support of local Christian leaders, whose congregations depend on the tourist trade. “It is our hope that this trail will bring many more Christian pilgrims to the Galilee, where Jesus lived and had his ministry,” said Bishop Boutros Muallem, the Melkite archbishop emeritus of Galilee, who attended the trail’s festive opening recently aboard a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Roughly 150,000 Christian Arabs live in Israel, the vast majority of them in the Galilee region in the north of the country. Now that the political situation in Israel is relatively quiet, a record number of tourists are flooding into Israel and the Palestinian-ruled territories, and local Christians are benefiting, according to government statistics. Two out of three tourists who visit Israel are Christian, according to the tourism ministry. At Tel Kinrot, which was part of the major trade route between ancient Egypt and Syria on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, an Italian pilgrim named Stefano gazed at the archaeological ruins. “I’m very happy to be on this trail, to see the sites where Jesus lived and the archaeological sites,” the 26-year-old said. “It helps me to thank God for what he does in my life.” Source: An article by Michele Chabin for Religion News Service

israel christians tourism boutros muallem gospel trail galilee arab christians
Terror strikes Tunisia

22 Mar 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus prayed “with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death,” the second reading informs us this Sunday. Foreign tourists cried out in panic Wednesday after militants stormed a museum in Tunisia's capital and starting “shooting at anything that moved," a witness said. Sadly, 19 of them lost their lives in the deadliest attack on civilians in the North African country in 13 years. Two gunman also died, and two more are sought. Homily hint: Tourism is an industry that threatens the closed minded because it brings people of varied backgrounds and cultures together. If you want to take a stand for peace, encourage and support tourism—especially cultural tourism that promotes mutual understanding and respect. For more on the attack in Tunisia, see: Museum Attack in Tunisian Capital Kills 19; 2 Gunmen Slain

terrorism tourism tunisia