ABSTRACT
The overwhelming majority of visitors to Palestine until the nineteenth century had been pilgrims coming out of religious motivation. New access for Western countries transformed the land into one of the central arenas for the development of modern tourism. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire began what was, in effect, an extended process of decay and decline. The growth of modern tourism in the region, and in Jerusalem in particular, was a central expression of the increasing influence of the Western powers and the weakening of the Ottoman Empire. The Holy Land's appeal near the end of the Ottoman period, each aspect of which played a role in the formation of modern tourism in the region. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified and buried, has attracted many pilgrims and visitors ever since its establishment in the fourth century CE.
