The biblical town of Bethlehem marked a merry Christmas on Saturday, with thousands of visitors descending upon the traditional birthplace of Jesus as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic.

Tourism is the economic lifeblood of the town in the occupied West Bank, and for the past two years the pandemic kept international visitors away.

This year, visitors are back, hotels are full and shopkeepers have reported a brisk business in the run-up to the holiday. Although the numbers have not reached pre-pandemic levels, the return of tourists has raised spirits in Bethlehem.

“We are celebrating Christmas this year in a very much different way than last year,” said Palestinian tourism minister Rula Maayah. “We’re celebrating Christmas with pilgrims coming from all over the world.”

Throughout the day hundreds of people strolled through Manger Square for Christmas Eve celebrations.

Cool weather, along with an occasional rain shower, did little to dampen spirits, though many people headed indoors to shops and restaurants to warm up and by nightfall the crowds had thinned.

Daisy Lucas, a 38-year-old Filipina who works in Israel, said it was a dream come true to mark the holiday in such an important place.

“As a Christian walking in the places in the Bible, it’s so overwhelming,” she said. “This is the birthplace of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, that’s one achievement that’s on my bucket list.”

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, arrived from Jerusalem through a checkpoint in Israel’s West Bank separation barrier.

“We are living in very difficult challenges,” he said, noting the war in Ukraine and a recent wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. “But the message of Christmas is a message of peace.”

“It’s possible to change things,” he added. “We will be very clear in what we have to do and what we have to say in order to preserve the importance of unity and reconciliation among all.”

He walked through Manger Square, waving to well-wishers before heading to the Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, to prepare to celebrate Midnight Mass.

In Manger Square banners showing photos of Palestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid were prominently displayed. The veteran prisoner died of cancer last week in an Israeli prison clinic after spending some 20 years behind bars for his conviction in the deaths of seven Israelis.

Hundreds of millions of Christians were ushering in the holiday, wrapping up a tumultuous year characterised by conflict and violence in many parts of the world.

In war-ravaged Ukraine, the glitzy lights normally spread over over Kyiv’s Sophia Square are missing due to restrictions and power cuts. Instead, a modest tree decorated with blue and yellow lights barely break the gloom of the square.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called it the “Tree of Invincibility”.