Editing Sea of Galilee (section)

==Tourism==
[[File:On the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, 1891.jpg|thumb|Tourists on a boat at Tiberias, 1891]]
[[File:Beach of Sea of Galilee in summer 2011.JPG|thumb|Kinneret beach]]

[[Tourism in Israel|Tourism]] around the Sea of Galilee is an important economic segment. Historical and religious sites in the region draw both local and foreign tourists. The Sea of Galilee is an attraction for [[Christian pilgrimage|Christian pilgrims]] who visit Israel to see the places where Jesus performed miracles according to the New Testament. Alonzo Ketcham Parker, a 19th-century American traveler, called visiting the Sea of Galilee "a 'fifth gospel' which one read devoutly, his heart overflowing with quiet joy".<ref>Parker, A. K., "The Sea of Galilee" in ''The Biblical World'', Vol. 7, No. 4 (April 1896), pages 264–272</ref>

In April 2011, Israel unveiled a {{convert|40|mi|km|adj=on}} hiking trail in Galilee for Christian pilgrims, called the "[[Jesus Trail]]". It includes a network of footpaths, roads and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples. It ends at [[Capernaum]] on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus expounded his teachings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ca.news.yahoo.com/israel-unveils-hiking-trail-galilee-christian-pilgrims-20110415-093756-814.html |access-date=16 May 2011 |date=15 April 2011 |title=Israel unveils hiking trail in Galilee for Christian pilgrims |author=Daniel Estrin, Canadian Press |publisher=[[Yahoo! News]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313005012/http://ca.news.yahoo.com/israel-unveils-hiking-trail-galilee-christian-pilgrims-20110415-093756-814.html |archive-date=13 March 2013 }}</ref> Another key attraction is the site where the Sea of Galilee's water flows into the Jordan River, to which thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to be baptized every year.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}}

Israel's most well-known open water swim race, the Kinneret Crossing, is held every year in September, drawing thousands of open water swimmers to participate in competitive and noncompetitive events.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/travel/MAGAZINE-in-photos-over-10-000-swimmers-brave-lake-kinneret-in-annual-sea-of-galilee-event-1.5451668|title=In Photos: Over 10,000 Swimmers Brave Lake Kinneret in Annual Sea of Galilee Event|last=Tchetchik|first=Daniel|date=18 September 2017|work=Haaretz|access-date=1 January 2020|language=en}}</ref> Tourists also partake in the building of rafts on ''Lavnun Beach'', called Rafsodia. Here many different age groups work together to build a raft with their bare hands and then sail that raft across the sea.<ref>{{Cite web|date=19 July 2017|title=The International Rafsodia – Crossing the Kinneret on a Raft|url=http://www.kkl-jnf.org/about-kkl-jnf/green-israel-news/july2017/youth-movement-rafsodia-galilee|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101151213/http://www.kkl-jnf.org/about-kkl-jnf/green-israel-news/july2017/youth-movement-rafsodia-galilee|archive-date=1 January 2020|access-date=1 January 2020|website=Keren Kayemeth Leisrael Jewish National Fund}}</ref> Other economic activities include fishing in the lake and [[Agriculture in Israel|agriculture]], particularly [[banana]]s, dates, mangoes, grapes and olives in the fertile belt of land surrounding it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=RITCHIE |first=BRUCE |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1273673635 |title=FIVE WEEKS IN THE LAND. |date=2021 |publisher=RESOURCE PUBLICATIONS (CA |isbn=978-1-6667-1457-9 |location=[S.l.] |pages=268 |oclc=1273673635}}</ref>

The Turkish Aviators Monument, erected during the Ottoman era, stands near Kibbutz [[Ha'on]] on the lakeshore, commemorating the Turkish pilots whose monoplanes crashed en route to Jerusalem.<ref>[https://www.jpost.com/in-jerusalem/features/a-determined-path-370384 A determined path], [[Jerusalem Post]]</ref>