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NEWS

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Eilat A Vacationer's
Paradise Year Round

DIANA LERNER

Special to The Jewish News

W

ith its glorious land-
scape, year-round
sunshine, clear blue
sea and endless new facilities
for leisure, recreation and
"getting away from it all;'
Eliat is becoming more and
more a vacationer's paradise.
This Red Sea port, known
around the world to sun wor-
shippers, swimmers, divers,
hikers, campers, sightseers,
adventurers, marine life en-
thusiasts, nature lovers,
desert freaks and bird wat-
chers, welcomes an average
400,000 visitors a year — both
foreign and local.
Few places in the world can
compare with Eilat's breath-
taking coral reefs and rich
underwater life, which may
be observed through a glass-
bottom boat, by snorkling,
skin diving or visiting the
underwater observatory. The
observatory, situated 100
meters out to sea in a part of
the coral reef known as the
Japanese Gardens, is con-
nected to the coast by a pier.
There one can find a
fascinating spectrum of
marine life.
The steady . year-round
temperature of the Red Sea
makes it possible to swim,
dive, sail and water-ski in
winter as well as in summer.
When Europeans are shiver-
ing at below zero
temperatures, it is approx-
imately 90 degrees warmer in
Eilat. Even the Canar3r
Wands, Eliat's closest com-
petitor for winter tourism,
has a 62 degree water
temperature while Eilat's
averages 74 degrees. Arkia,
which has direct flights from
Europe to Eilat flew 82,000
European tourists to Eilat
last year.
November to the end of
April marks the high season
for winter tourism from
Europe, when there are ap-
proximately 30 charter
flights a week. Foreign book-
ing companies in Britain,
Germany, Austria, Scan-
dinavia and France maintain
their own tour guides who
stay in Eilat for the season
and guide their countrymen
around the region in their
own language.
There are several hostels in
the city, private homes in
which one may rent a bed for
several nights as well as
popular camping sites. The
Caravan Hotel with its cam-
ping, diving and yachting
facilities is the ideal accom-

.

modation
for
sports
enthusiasts.
The 4,000 rooms available
in Eilat provide the city with
a lucrative livelihood, but are
not sufficient and new hotel
complexes are under con-
struction. The Dan has
already bought a plot of land
for a new hotel and a new
ultra deluxe Penta hotel will
be going up at the tip of
Eilat's new border. Unique ac-
commodations are available
at the Club In, which consists
of 166 two- and three-room
villas. The complex is self-
contained with restaurants,
bars and in-house entertain-
ment. Those vacationers who
venture out of their comfor-
table, air-conditioned hotels,
however, will have no problem
finding plenty to see and do.
Aside from the numerous
water-related recreational ac-
tivities in Eilat, birdwatching
is a popular pastime with
both local residents and
tourists. During the spring of
1985 more than a million
birds of prey from 30 different
species were counted at the
Eilat Birdwatching Center, a
regular stopover for birds dur-
ing the great migrations.
For those willing to make
excursions outside the city
there is the Hai Bai Reserve
whichis home to some rarely
seen indigenous animals; the
huge crater at Timna Park,
where one can visit ancient
copper mines, the Egyptian
temple of Ta'aman and the
60-meter high _ King
Solomon's Pillars; and the
beautiful 600-meter long and
one- to three-meter wide Red
Canyon.
A new tourist center
scheduled to open in. October
will provide office space for 31
airline companies, tour
operators and hotel reserva-
tion desks and will serve as a
fully equipped communica-
tions center. The center is
good news for the city of
25,000 residents, most of
whom are already working in
the tourist industry and
related services.
In a survey done by the
Ministry of Iburism, 86 per-
cent of the tourists who came
on direct flights to Eilat in
the 1988-1989 visitors season,
said their decision to visit
Eilat was not influenced by
the security situation in
Israel. The vast majority had
a favorable overall opinion of
their visit. But considering
what this Red Sea port has to
offer, that's hardly surpris-
ing. 0

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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