All the news about Israeli tourism

In the next few weeks representatives of the 30 largest hotels in Antalya are expected in Israel as part of an initiative by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism to support Israeli tourism to Turkey.  Since relations chilled between the two countries there has been a slump in Israeli tourists visiting Turkey.

In an attempt to defrost relations between Turkey and Israel, representatives from 30 leading hotels in Anatalya are expected to visit Israel next month in order to try and boost the sale of hotel rooms for the coming summer.  The visit is part of a program organized by the Turkish government to support tourism and will include visits by hoteliers.

The Turkish hoteliers are expected to meet with wholesalers and tour operators in Israel in order to find ways of increasing tourist traffic from Israel to Turkey.  The Turkish hoteliers will host cocktail parties at the home of the Turkish ambassador to Israel.

The Turkish hoteliers will ask the leading tourist wholesalers to do everything possible to recover the volume of traffic from Israel to Turkey, which almost collapsed following the criticism of Israel's military operation in Gaza byTurkish Prime Minister Erdogan.

Based on figures released by the Turkish Ministry of Tourism during the first quarter of 2009, the number of Israelis visiting Turkey fell by a massive 65 percent.  The Turkish government has been forced to support the tourist industry as a result of this dramatic fall plus the significant reduction in tourists visiting Turkey from both Russia and Germany as a result of the global economic crisis.