Alternative Tourism Group

Alternative Tourism Group and Study Center (ATG) is a Palestinian nongovernmental organization based in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem. Established in 1995 by Jamal Salameh, Majed Nassar, Rifat Odeh Kassis, Ghassan Andoni, and Elias Rishmawi, the organization combines tourism services with research, political education, and community engagement. Its work is built around the concepts of fair-trade tourism, responsible tourism, and justice tourism rather than conventional mass-market sightseeing. ATG designs tours and pilgrimages that place the history, culture, society, and politics of the Holy Land at the center of the visitor experience. Its programs seek to connect international visitors directly with Palestinian communities, including farmers, villagers, refugee-camp residents, and families providing accommodation. The organization presents tourism as a means of creating local economic opportunities, encouraging meaningful interaction between guests and hosts, protecting the environment, and educating visitors about the historical and political conditions affecting Palestinians. A defining feature of ATG's approach is its criticism of forms of tourism that treat Palestine as a decontextualized religious or archaeological destination. Its itineraries may include conventional sites, but they also examine questions concerning land, access, displacement, settlements, the separation barrier, occupation, local livelihoods, and the contested political geography of the region. Through this model, ATG aims to give visitors a more complete understanding of Palestinian life and to challenge simplified or purely promotional portrayals of the Holy Land. ATG's activities include organized tours and pilgrimages, locally hosted bed-and-breakfast stays, the Nativity Trail walking program between Nazareth and Bethlehem, and seasonal campaigns connected with olive cultivation. During the October Olive Picking Campaign, international participants assist Palestinian farmers whose groves may be difficult to reach because of the separation barrier or nearby Israeli settlements. The February Olive Tree Planting Campaign supports the planting of olive and other trees on land that Palestinian communities describe as vulnerable to confiscation. These activities combine practical solidarity with cultural exchange and political education. The organization has also contributed to tourism-related publications and networks. It published Palestine & Palestinians, described as a comprehensive guide to Palestine that covers the occupied territories, Jerusalem, the areas within Israel known as the 1948 territories, and the Syrian Golan Heights. ATG initiated the Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tourism, which produced a Code of Conduct in the Holy Land, and it is associated with the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network. ATG received the TO DO Award at the 2006 International Tourism Bourse in Berlin for socially responsible tourism. Its public identity is therefore distinct from that of a conventional travel agency or online travel marketplace: the organization functions as a tourism operator, study center, advocacy-oriented institution, and community partnership platform. Publicly available reference material does not establish a corporate parent, commercial owner, public listing, or current executive roster.

Alternative Tourism Group and Study Center was founded in 1995 in Beit Sahour, a Palestinian town in the Bethlehem area. Its founders created the organization to promote a form of tourism that would generate benefits for Palestinian communities while giving visitors a fuller account of the region's social, historical, and political realities. From the outset, ATG's model differed from standard sightseeing and pilgrimage operations by treating tourism as an educational and civic practice as well as an economic activity. The organization developed tours and pilgrimages that combine visits to religious, historical, and cultural sites with encounters involving Palestinian residents. These encounters can include meetings with farmers, villagers, refugee-camp communities, and local civil-society actors. ATG's approach is commonly described through the terms fair-trade tourism, responsible tourism, and justice tourism. Its stated principles include local economic opportunity, direct and respectful host-guest exchange, environmental protection, and political or historical education. A major part of ATG's program has been seasonal agricultural solidarity. The October Olive Picking Campaign brings international visitors to assist Palestinian farmers during the harvest, particularly where access to groves is complicated by the separation barrier or the proximity of Israeli settlements. The February Olive Tree Planting Campaign encourages the planting of olive trees and other trees on land that Palestinian communities consider at risk of confiscation. These campaigns give participants a practical role while also explaining the importance of olive cultivation to Palestinian livelihoods, culture, and land claims. ATG also created community-hosted accommodation and walking itineraries. Its bed-and-breakfast program places visitors in local Palestinian homes around Bethlehem, encouraging direct interaction and allowing tourism income to reach households. The Nativity Trail is a walking route between Nazareth and Bethlehem. It combines landscapes and Palestinian villages with visits to refugee camps, meetings with farmers and villagers, and elements of the traditional pilgrimage narrative associated with Joseph and Mary. In addition to operating tourism programs, ATG has worked as a study and publishing center. It produced Palestine & Palestinians, a guidebook intended to cover the wider geographic and political scope of Palestine, including the occupied territories, Jerusalem, the 1948 territories, and the Syrian Golan Heights. The organization also initiated the Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tourism, which published a Code of Conduct in the Holy Land. ATG is listed as a member of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network. International recognition came in 2006, when ATG received the TO DO Award at the International Tourism Bourse in Berlin for socially responsible tourism. The award reflected the organization's attempt to connect tourism with community participation and social responsibility. ATG's public materials and reference descriptions portray it as both a tourism provider and an advocacy-oriented educational organization seeking to influence how Palestine is represented and visited. The available reference material does not provide a complete chronology of leadership changes, financial performance, ownership, or legal structure. It also does not establish a parent company or stock-market listing. Accordingly, the organization is best characterized as a Palestinian NGO and responsible-tourism operator rather than a conventional corporate travel brand.

1. 2006TO DO Award for socially responsible tourism

   ATG received the TO DO Award at the International Tourism Bourse in Berlin in recognition of its socially responsible tourism model.

   Source
2. 1995Organization established

   Alternative Tourism Group and Study Center was founded in Beit Sahour by Jamal Salameh, Majed Nassar, Rifat Odeh Kassis, Ghassan Andoni, and Elias Rishmawi.

   Source

ATG positions itself as a Palestinian justice-tourism and responsible-tourism organization that links travel with local economic benefit, direct community contact, environmental responsibility, and critical education about the history and politics of Palestine.

• Olive Picking CampaignAgricultural solidarity tourism

  An October program in which international participants assist Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest. The campaign focuses especially on groves that farmers may struggle to reach because of the separation barrier or the proximity of Israeli settlements. Alongside the practical harvest work, participants learn about Palestinian rural livelihoods, land access, and the cultural significance of olive cultivation.

• Olive Tree Planting CampaignEnvironmental and solidarity tourism

  A February planting initiative centered mainly on olive trees. ATG presents the program as support for Palestinian communities seeking to cultivate and maintain land considered vulnerable to confiscation. The activity combines environmental stewardship, community participation, and education about the political and economic importance of agricultural land.

• Bed-and-Breakfast ProgramCommunity-based accommodation

  A locally hosted accommodation program around Bethlehem that places visitors in Palestinian homes. Rather than separating tourists from residents, the model is designed to create direct personal contact and distribute tourism income to local households. The stays form part of ATG's broader effort to encourage reciprocal cultural exchange and a more community-centered visitor economy.

• Nativity Trail ProgramWalking pilgrimage and cultural tourism

  A walking itinerary running from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Participants encounter Palestinian landscapes and villages, refugee camps, farmers, and local residents while following a route associated with the journey of Joseph and Mary. The program combines religious heritage with contemporary Palestinian history, community interaction, and outdoor travel.

• Palestine & PalestiniansGuidebook and educational publication

  A comprehensive guidebook published by ATG covering Palestine in a broad historical and geographic frame. The work includes the occupied territories, Jerusalem, the 1948 territories, and the Syrian Golan Heights, and supports the organization's aim of giving visitors contextual information beyond conventional pilgrimage and sightseeing narratives.

• Olive Picking Campaign

  Palestine · International participant markets

  An annual October campaign involving international volunteers and visitors in the Palestinian olive harvest, with particular attention to farmers whose groves are affected by restricted access, the separation barrier, or nearby settlements.

  Outcome. The program provides seasonal labor and international visibility for participating farming communities while advancing ATG's responsible- and justice-tourism objectives.

  Source
• Olive Tree Planting Campaign

  Palestine · International participant markets

  An annual February campaign supporting the planting of olive trees, mainly on Palestinian land described as vulnerable to confiscation.

  Outcome. The campaign links environmental activity with community solidarity, land cultivation, and education about Palestinian land-related concerns.

  Source

1. Alternative Tourism Group