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VO LVO A car you can believe in. 825 WOODWARD 1 MILE NORTH OF SQUARE LAKE ROAD 332-8000 18 FRIDAY, MAY 6, 1988 Washington Correspondent - FOR THESE CHAOTIC TIMES, A SOLID, LONG TERM INVESTMENT VEHICLE. With most economic indicators suggesting that the sky is falling, it might be prudent to seek shelter in a Volvo 760 GLE. Like all Volvos, the 760 is built to hold together over the long term. Which means that you probably won't have to JAMES D. BESSER © 1987 Volvo North American Corporation s unrest in Israel's administered territo- ries continues, that country's vital tourist in- dustry is slumping, according to Rafi Harley, the president of El Al Airlines. And American Jews, according to the former second-in- command of the Israeli Air Force, have been more likely to cancel their Israel travel plans than their Christian neighbors. Harley is currently in the middle of a U.S. tour designed to shore up the sagging tourism statistics. "There are really three pur- poses to this visit," said Harley, whose whirlwind tour included stops in New York, Washington, Miami, Phila- delphia and Chicago. "The first is routine — to check in with our offices here after an absence of three years. Secondly, we want to tell the story that El Al is healthier now than it's ever been; in 1987 profits will be 15 percent higher than in 1986:' But the most important reason, he says, is the slump in tourism — a decline that the Jerusalem government is reluctant to acknowledge. "Unfortunately, we face a reduction at the rate of be- tween • 15 and 30 percent for the period starting April 1," he says. "The government does not see this." The discrepancy, he says, is due to the different ways El Al and the government evalu- ate tourism. "The tourism minister is looking at the first quarter statistics for this year — which were surprisingly good. So the minister of tourism is extremely happy. But El Al's statistics are based on projections — which are based on what we have on our reservation system. The minister has no reservation system:' Part of Harlev's purpose in visiting the United States is to help reverse this trend. "We try to follow a couple of courses of action," he said. "One is to convince Ameri- cans that there's nothing to be afraid of. One way we're do- ing this is by bringing facts about Israel — about groups from all over the world who have come, and their ex- periences." He describes a recent en- counter with a group of Ger- man tourists. "They toured all over the country. Of A course, they didn't go into the Gaza refugee camps; people visit New York, but they don't go to Harlem. I asked for their impressions. They told me this: 'Thirty of us cancel- ed before we came. We're go- ing to go back and tell them they were fools. We didn't see a single stone except what was on the ground: " Another part of Harlev's strategy is to deal with wor- ried parents of children scheduled to attend camp this summer in Israel. "So we sent 30 parents from New York who were concerned. They went to Israel, came back and sent letters to the thousands of others, saying they had a wonderful time, and didn't face any problems:' A good part of Harlev's ap- peal is directed at American Jews. "What we are saying to the Jewish public here is, friends, this is the time to come. If not now, when? What is being a Jew all about, if not standing up and helping your people?" He expresses puzzlement about the tendency of Jewish tourists to cancel their trips to Israel more readily than Christians. "Part of it is the leaders of group trips," he says. "We found that cancel- lations depend on the single mind of the leader, and it hap- pens that the Christian mini- sters who lead trips to Israel are just more determined to go. Maybe they're less afraid; it looks as if the Jewish peo- ple are somewhat more afraid to come. Of course, the people in our Jewish leadership don't like to hear that:' A final part of Harley's strategy is to work with travel agents and tour opera- tors to make Israel travel more attractive this year— through higher concessions to travel agents, reductions in fares and special arrange- ments for group expeditions. Harley has been El Al's president since 1983, and is generally credited with pull- ing the airline back from the brink of bankruptcy. "Be- tween 1980 and 1983 was our worst period," he says. "El Al underwent major labor unrest during that period, including a complete shutdown for four months. At that point, we were very close to bankrupt- cy? , Through tough cost-cutting and even tougher bargaining with Israel's trade unions, Harley created a leaner and more efficient company.