ROIT CELEBRATE

Awaiting
The Boom

Tourism officials are expecting more Americans
to travel to Israel.

LONNY GOLDSMITH

Staff Writer

F

or the third consecutive year,
the rate of travel from the
United States to Israel has
remained steady.
That's not a cause for concern, said
Deborah Shochet, Midwest director of
the Israel Ministry of Tourism North
America (IMTNA) office in Chicago.
"The numbers not going up is not
catastrophic," she said. "In 1995, we
had a very good year." That year
showed a 20-percent increase in
tourism from 1994. "On one hand,
people say that going to Israel is a
danger," she said, "but planes that are
going to Israel are full."
The media is partly to blame for
tourists' fears of traveling to Israel,
Shochet said.

Happy Mother's Day

In Crosswinds Plaza Corner of
Orchard Lake Road And Lone Pine Road

"People don't want to go where the
media focuses on terrorist attacks," she
said. "People only know Israel from
what they see on CNN."
In 1997, 73,000 people from the
Midwest (defined by the IMTNA as
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota,
Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas
and North and South Dakota) trav-
eled to Israel, 1,000 fewer than the
previous year. Michigan represented
14 percent of that total, trailing Illi-
nois (31.2 percent) and Ohio (20.4
percent).
Travel to Israel from the Midwest
took a nosedive in 1994, with only
61,534 people heading for the Holy
Land. Just over 8,000 of them were
from Michigan.
1995, on the other hand, was a
record year, when 76,400 Midwestern-

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248.539.1181

YAD EZRA

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feed/mg the .TewArk tigitgry

We at Yad Ezra know the strong commitment the Jewish people

have for one another. It is this dedication and determination
that enables us to survive adversity and thrive as a people.

We proudly join our community in commemorating Israel's 50th
celebration. May we continue to go from strength to strength.

5/1
1998

30

The Board of Directors and Staff of Yad Ezra

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