All the news about Israeli tourism
2009-03-10 - Vol 6
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Ben Gurion traffic slumps 17.5% in February
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Based on statistics from the Israel Airports Authority, a total of 548, 816 passengers passed through Ben Gurion airport on 5,443 international and internal flights during February. Israeli airlines flew 252,088 passengers, a decline of 14.6 percent on February 2008. Air movements to Turkey fell by a massive 52 percent.
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El Al and Aerolineas Argentinas discuss cooperation
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The President of Aerolineas Argentinas, Julio Alak and President of El Al, Haim Romano, met in order to initiate a process of collaboration between the two companies for passenger and cargo traffic.
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Ministry of Tourism takes a stand at ITB
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The Israeli booth at the ITB travel exhibition in Berlin will be setup to display the Tel Aviv beachfront, with signs celebrating the city’s 100th birthday. The stand will cover an area of 770 square meters and will include quizzes and matkot (beach paddleball), visitors will also be given ice cream.
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Hoteliers turn to workers committees for support
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During a conference held at the Dan Hotel, organized by the Ministry of Tourism, in which the heads of the Histadrut labor federation, representatives of the Israel Hotels Association and members representing the inbound travels agents were represented; there were calls on the head of the workers committees to promote domestic tourism at the expense of overseas tourism. In 2008 the workers committees were responsible for 1.5 million hotel nights.
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El Al suing Ministry of Transportation & IAA
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El Al has appealed to the High Court claiming that the Ministry of Transportation has failed to resolve a number of aviation issues; including the downgrading of Israel to category 2 of the FAA’s International Aviation Safety assessment, something that has negatively affected El Al’s operations as well as allowing the doubling of flights for BMI. The guilty parties: The Minister of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority and BMI.
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Ovda airport to continue operating during April
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Having previously advised that with the end of charter flight season and the small number of international flights all operations at Ovda would be transferred to Eilat airport. The Israel Airports Authority (IAA) have now advised that Ovda airport will continue to receive flights during April 2009.
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Will Netanyahu be good for tourism?
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Delegates from the tourist industry met at the Kfar Maccabiah hotel with members of the ‘100 Days’ group, an organization created by Prime Minister elect, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s team also met with senior members of the Israeli airlines.
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Tour operators in the north look for solutions to beat the recession
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Hoteliers in the north are considering cancelling the practice of requiring a minimum of two night stay at the weekend, in order to support accommodation in guest houses. If this is approved then customers will be able to stay a single night. Tourist authorities in the region are examining other ways of making a holiday in Israel a more attractive proposition than holidaying overseas.
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Turkey targets Israel tourists
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The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has launched a 1 million shekel campaign to encourage Israeli tourists to visit Turkey during the Passover holiday. Since the statements made by Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan against the Israeli military operation in Gaza, there has been a self imposed Israeli boycott of tourism to Turkey.
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Ben Gurion Airport – The leading airport in the Middle East for 2008
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Airport Councils International (ACI) has announced their annual awards for airport quality service, based on results of customer satisfaction surveys. Ben Gurion Airport was ranked in first place for airports in the Middle East region. Zurich Airport was ranked as the best airport in Europe while Incheon International Airport in South Korea won the award for the world’s best airport.
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Israel launches first tourist office in China
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Because of the increasing number of Chinese tourists visiting Israel, the Ministry of Tourism has opened a new tourism office in Beijing. Minister Ruhama Avraham: “There is massive potential in tourism from China and the Ministry of Tourism is operating to remove any obstacles and arrange a pleasant welcome for the Chinese tourist”
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