two days, Bethlehem will be besieged again - not by IDF infantries or Islamist militia, but by hundreds of foreign executives and trade officials in floral beachwear and straw hats attending the Palestine Investment Conference.

The conference will showcase a range of contracts up for grabs which have been made available by the $14bn pledge to support Palestine's development, announced last December by the international donor community.

This week's conference comes on the back of free trade agreements with the US, Canada, the EU, a preferential agreement with China and the news that the Palestinian stock exchange, based in Nablus, has risen by 40 per cent over the past year - better than the 34.5 per cent rise registered by the Qatari exchange, the other top performer in the Arab world.

Remarkably, tourism is at the very heart of this blooming economy. Palestine has seen the number of tourists staying in hotels rise 108 per cent in the last year, reaching

levels not seen since before the 2001 Intifada. Palestinian hotel companies have plans to add 10,000 rooms in East Jerusalem, Jericho and Bethlehem over the next three years in projects worth $300m. Holidaying in the West Bank has never been so bankable.

That said, Ms Daibes is nothing if not honest. "Our strategy is to tell the truth: you are not going to Jamaica," she notes. "It's more of a mission. You can have a unique experience while supporting the economy and the political process."

She is not lying. A summer retreat to Hebron is more like going on Gladiators than perusing the Coliseum: prepare for military checkpoints every 100 yards, disgruntled soldiers on every corner and the whirr of curfew sirens. Whilst this may soon evolve into a popular, and morally rich, form of adventure holidaying, don't expect Thomson Holidays to be flying package tours into Jenin anytime soon.