A group of Christian pilgrims began a five-day journey from the ancient port city of Jaffa to Jerusalem on Sunday, retracing the route religious visitors to the Holy Land have used for centuries.

The “Way to Jerusalem” initiative, sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, comes as more visitors began returning to the Holy Land this summer after steep drops following regional wars over the last couple of years.

The group included about a dozen Christians, many of whom are also religious-affairs journalists, from around the world.

“I think it is marvelous to be with people of different cultures and different religions,” Maria Diaz-Ripoll, a Spanish pilgrim with Tierra Santa, the publication of the Franciscan Church, told JNS at the start of the journey at Jaffa port. “I think people love Israel and want to come to be a pilgrim in Jerusalem in the land of Jesus, but are afraid of the situation.”

Many of the visitors said that the Israel they see in the media is entirely different than the one they are experiencing firsthand.

“It has been an eye-opener to learn so much of the Jewish history and culture and way of life,” said Father Joshan Rodrigues, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay (Mumbai) who was on his first visit to Israel.

“You get a very different impression of Israel than you see back home; because of the political biases on TV, you see a very narrow view of Israel,” the Indian cleric, who led an impromptu mass at the ancient city of Magdala on the Sea of Galilee over the weekend before the walk began.

“It’s a great idea for coming together,” said Austrian pilgrim Gabriella Reichkendler, who writes for the Austrian Travel Gazette. “We are from the land of the Nazis, so some in our generation look to blame Israel.”

The pilgrimage from Jaffa to Jerusalem retraces the traditional 111-kilometer (69-mile) journey on foot taken over the centuries by Christian, Jewish and Muslim pilgrims who arrived by sea at Jaffa Port and traveled inland on foot, on mules or by camel.

This week's journey from the Mediterranean port to Israel’s capital combines walking with bus-driven visits to historic pilgrimage routes, religious landmarks and cultural heritage sites, bringing together a mix of pilgrims from France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, South Korea, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The pilgrimage, which will include stops at Ramle, Latrun, Abu Ghosh and Ein Kerem, will conclude Thursday at the Jaffa Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The number of tourist arrivals to Israel jumped nearly 20% last month, compared to the period in 2025, according to figures from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.

Never the less, international visitor arrivals for January-September 2026 were around 788,500, about 15% lower than the same period in 2025.

French pilgrim Martial R. from Montpellier, who works with a media website in Brittany and is on his first visit to the Holy Land, said: “We have this idea of the country based on the media, which focuses on all the negatives, and when you arrive you see different things and the day-to-day lives.”