PALESTINIAN WALKS PAST LUXURY HOTEL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1997-01-22 (photo)

A Palestinian crosses the street leading to a luxury hotel under construction January 22 which is part of a much larger building complex called the Mamilla Project near the Old City and the Jaffa Gate. Israeli hotel industry officials hope that last week's handover of most of Hebron to Palestinian self-rule will project a more peaceful image of Israel and calm the jitters of potential tourists. There are some 40,000 tourist class hotel rooms in Israel and another 20,000 are under planning or construction - of which half will be ready for occupancy by the year 2000. ISRAEL TOURISM