All the news about Israeli tourism

The tourist ministers of Israel and Argentina are expected to sign a tourism agreement between the two countries in the coming months. Minister Misezhnikov met with his Argentinean counterpart Carlos Enrique Meyer in Buenos Aires, during a visit to South American countries with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Misezhnikov, who also met with the Argentinean President, emphasized that he sees Argentina as his preferred source of incoming tourism to Israel: “The activities of the ministry in South America during the last few months, with emphasis on the visit of the Pope earlier in the year, which resulted in a significant increase in the number of tourists visiting Israel. In the coming years Argentina will be one of the central destinations for our activities in the region.”

Both sides announced that they are now examining the operation of El Al’s ongoing flights from Brazil, that will help contribute to the development of tourism and aviation links between the countries.

Also taking part in the meeting was Alexander Ben Zvi, director of the foreign office’s Latin American division and Dov Litvinoff, mayor of the Tamar Regional Council, who presented to the Argentinean minister and representatives of his office on the preparation for the competition for the new 7 Wonders of the World competition, with the Dead Sea and the Iguazu Falls in Argentina both competing.  It was suggested that the two countries cooperate in order to help increase their chances of being selected.

From the start of the year until the end of October, a total of 60,000 tourists visited Israel from South America, the majority from Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. During October alone, there was a 41 percent increase from Argentina (approximately 1,500 tourists), 3 percent increase from Brazil (abour 4,700 tourists) and a similar amount from Colombia compared to October 2008.