Kirk throws cold water on spa plans for Scots Hotel

Published on Friday 21 May 2010 23:15

PLANS to add a spa to the Kirk's controversial resort development in Israel were left unresolved yesterday.

The 9.3 million Scots Hotel development in Tiberias, by the Sea of Galilee, is one of the Kirk's largest properties.

The resort, marketed as a boutique hotel and a place to provide "Christian hospitality in which people of all faiths can meet", has been the focus of considerable debate, having been dogged by completion delays, increased tensions in the area and low occupancy rates.

The hotel opened in 2004, but is still only 85 per cent complete, and delays over building a spa are now said to threaten its viability as a competitive resort.

However, Colin Renwick, convener of the Kirk's World Mission Council, said that the ethical and financial issues of adding the spa could not be addressed easily.

"It is important to ensure that the hotel remains commercially viable, but not at the cost of overshadowing our stated aims of providing a place of Christian hospitality in which people of all faiths can meet, learn and grow together in what remains a troubled land," he said.

He added that while the development had been smaller than first envisaged in 1999, it had received more than 200 pilgrim groups from around the world. Though the hotel has been hit by a 60 per cent rise in rates it returned a 176,000 profit to the Kirk.

As a result of the various considerations needed to move the development forward, the Kirk's position was not to take a decision.

He added that the World Mission Council would have to consult with the Church of Scotland Trust, the Finance Committee and the Council of Assembly before reaching a decision, but said that if work did go ahead, it been agreed that "the necessary funding has to be found in Israel".