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Troubled Kirk hotel in Holy Land makes a profit at last

The Kirk's troubled hotel project in the Holy Land has recorded its first profit, it was announced at the General Assembly yesterday.

The Scots Hotel in Tiberias, Israel, on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, realised a profit of £312,000 at the end of 2006 and was said to be performing ahead of its 2007 budget.

Plans have also been mooted to add spa facilities to the complex.

The news follows three years of turmoil and internal division within the Kirk over the project. Last year, the World Mission Council, the hotel's managing body, cancelled plans to expand the premises from 69 rooms to 130, while defending it from accusations it had become an expensive "white elephant", having recorded a loss of £300,000 during the previous year.

The Rev Colin Renwick, who addressed the Assembly on the subject yesterday, said: "The Scots Hotel in Tiberias is functioning well.

"At the end of 2006, in spite of closure during the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the hotel realised a Net Operation Profit of $615,000 (£312,000)."

He added that the figures showed how quickly the area's tourist economy could recover from conflict, and said it had been appreciated by local people that "the Church of Scotland did not run away" during this difficult time.

Full story at The Scotsman.