The Israeli-Hamas military conflict that began on Oct. 7 continues to rage with no sign of a resolution.

According to the United Nations, more than 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals in Israel and more than 5,000 people in the Palestine region of Gaza have been killed since its start.

Leon Avigad, CEO and founder of Israel-based family office Brown Hotels Collection, said the hostilities have been nothing short of depressing. Brown Hotels Collection has 15 hotels in Tel Aviv and another seven in the rest of the country.

The human cost of the conflict is foremost in every hotelier’s mind, but they are also cognizant that their hotels and firms employ numerous people who have families to feed and mortgages to pay, among other concerns.

Avigad’s employee makeup might be typical of the country’s hotel chains.

“We employ Israelis. We employ Palestinians. We employ Christians,” he said. “We do not call them staff, rather, team members. We have 1,100 team members in Israel and another 1,000 in Europe.”

Brown Hotels Collection owns, leases and manages its hotels. On the first day of the conflict, the company closed most of its hotels, Avigad said.

“They were shut down immediately, except for one each in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Eilat. After 24 hours, we opened them all to rehouse evacuees,” he said.

The safety and well-being of the company's employees are foremost in Avigad's mind.

“Our team members need help. We have single working mothers and fathers drafted into the army. Our Arabic employees are feeling very uncomfortable. We’re looking at each person’s situation case by case, trying to be as humane as possible,” he said.

“Right now, our goal is to be hospitable, not so much delivering hospitality,” he added.

Avigad said the Israeli government, which has been the subject of political protest for all of 2023 over plans to curb the powers of its supreme court, was caught short by Hamas’ Oct. 7 actions.

“The industry needs to show [the government] what are the major obstacles and problems. We have gone immediately from 1,100 team members in Israel to less than half that number. I fear unemployment will skyrocket, and I know the majority of Palestinians simply wish to lead a quiet life,” he said.

“This is our 9/11. Just as with the attacks in the U.S., everyone here will remember exactly what they were doing and where they were on Oct. 7. Last week, there were protests against the government. Now, we're all together,” he said.

Avigad said he divides his time between Greece, where Brown Hotels has approximately 12 hotels opened or in its pipeline, and Israel, where two hotels had planned openings this month. Those hotels are a 143-room hotel in Tel Aviv in the former headquarters of the country’s socialist political party and a 53-room boutique hotel, also in Israel’s major business hub.

“Naturally, both are on standstill,” he said. “That might not be important. Everything is relative and proportional, I know that.”

Avigad said the conflict will not only have ramifications for Israel, but also for neighboring and nearby countries.

“Clearly our hotels in Israel have been affected in terms of bookings and cancellations, but it is too early to assess the impact in the wider region. The situation is fast-moving, and we are watching it closely, as is everyone in the industry,” he said.

Avigad said his hotels are a collection of boutique properties, but now they are housing evacuees.

“Our hotels were all about our rooftops. We loved it. Now, we have a new commitment — families, children and religious guests,” he said.

We need to make it happen on a daily basis as we have forgotten how beautiful this mosaic is,” he said, referring to Israel’s multicultural population.

Avigad said Israel has been particularly affected by the pandemic and the new absence of Russian travelers.

“COVID was hard for us, as we are isolated, with a lot of closed borders. Then came the Ukraine crisis and raised airfares. The Russians have disappeared, especially to the Dead Sea. Then there was the interest-rates crisis, which affected demand from Germany and the United Kingdom, and then we had the worst summer ever domestically with the protests against the government turning Tel Aviv into a nightmare.

“Usually, this month we’d be at 80% occupancy, but now it is 60%. How many black swans are we to have?” he said.

Avigad added the firm learned during COVID-19 that it was not wise to put all its eggs in one basket.

“Our hotels outside of Israel are doing well,” he said.

Avigad said the Israeli government and financial market could do more, given that “they have stability.”

“They entered this year with heavy pockets, a good financial situation, and now is the time to open pockets. The government needs to look at tourism differently. We have a lot to worry about — the lack of group, meetings, seminars and the U.S. market. The entire year of 2024 will be a write-off, and of course we have competition, from Egypt, Turkey and others,” he said.

“The small boutique hotels, the youth hostels, small hotels, all have been severely hit. Everything was canceled. There are no tourists. The only foreigners are journalists,” he said.

Israel's hotel industry employs a lot of people — 100,000 or so directly and 250,000 if adding those working in its supply chain, Avigad said.

“Many staff do not come from the wealthiest segments of Israeli society. The government needs to wake up fast, or otherwise many hoteliers will not recover, certainly as Israel is an expensive country,” he said. “It is also one that is extremely expensive to develop. Why should investors invest in tourism here? It is hard to find bank loans, financing and landowners wishing to develop.”

Even without war, Israel typically sees seasonal demand slowdowns to start each year.

The war is likely to disrupt one of Israel's busier tourism seasons, and if it drags on, the beginning of a calendar year is typically a slower season, Avigad said.

“October was supposed to have been an excellent month. I am not optimistic about government action. As it is very conservative, I cannot see any money coming in 2023, and January and February are seasonally quiet periods here.”

Despite all the destruction and strife the Israeli-Hamas conflict has wrought, Avigad said he is committed to hospitality in Israel.

“I am always optimistic. I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

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