1 World
Travel Israel
From Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea, opportunities await.
Editor's Note: Uri Steinberg is the Israel
Tourism Consul to the Midwest Region
and is based in Chicago. He visited Metro
Detroit on Aug. 17. Below is an e-mail
interview conducted with the JN.
two roundtrip airline tickets from Chicago
to Tel Aviv courtesy of Turkish Airlines.
Those interested can visit www.goisrael.
com/tivcontest for more information on the
contest and how to enter.
W
Cite the events of interest coming
up in Israel.
Tel Aviv is celebrating the centennial
anniversary of its founding as a modern
city. The city has been hosting a yearlong
series of events that began in April and
is continuing through the end of the year.
Some of the upcoming events include
ARTLV, the city's international art bien-
nial, taking place Sept. 9-Oct. 8 and whose
theme this year is exploring Tel Aviv's
history through art; a green eco-festival
in Yarkon Park on Oct. 7-8; and the open-
ing of the new Museum of the History of
Tel Aviv-Yafo in Bialik Square. Other great
events are coming up in 2010 elsewhere in
the country. The fourth annual Eilat Bird
Migration Festival will take place March
18 25 offering the opportunity to watch
500 million birds traverse Israel's skies
on their spring migration to Europe. In
June 2010, the Israel Opera will celebrate
its 25th anniversary with a special opera
weekend in the Dead Sea. The highlight of
this event will be an open-air performance
of Verdi's opera Nabucco at the foot of
Masada. And there are always other excit-
ing festivals going on as well as the many
wonderful and unique sites of Israel.
hat's the current state of
Israel tourism?
After a slight downturn in
the first half of the year, tourism to Israel
is doing extremely well. We were certainly
bolstered this year by some very impor-
tant events — most importantly, Tel Aviv's
centennial celebrations and Pope Bendict
XVI's pilgrimage trip in May. Israel also
has been featured this year as a top travel
destination in some of America's most
popular travel magazines, including Travel
and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler. We
recently welcomed a new tourism minister,
Stas Misezhnikov, and a new director-gen-
eral of the Ministry of Tourism, Noaz Bar-
Nir. Both men are very committed to the
Ministry of Tourism's goal of welcoming 5
million tourists annually to Israel by 2015.
Talk about how and in what ways
tourism to Israel is rebounding
strongly.
In 2008, Israel experienced its best year
for tourism ever, with 3 million tourists
visiting the country. The slight depression
in tourist numbers to Israel in the first
half of 2009 reflected the overall decrease
in international travel throughout the
world. Even so, the decrease in numbers of
tourists to Israel was less severe than the
international average. Starting last month,
numbers started to rise again. The most
dramatic example of the rebound was in
the first week of August, during which
Ben-Gurion International Airport experi-
enced a nearly 8 percent rise in passenger
traffic over the same period last year. I
also would point to the new airline routes
that are being opened to Israel — includ-
ing U.S. Airways' Philadelphia-Tel Aviv
route, which was inaugurated this sum-
mer — as clear signs that Israel's tourism
industry is healthy and growing.
Describe the variety of projects
around the region.
This past year, our office hosted a series
of six travel agent seminars throughout
the Midwest region to introduce agents
to Israel as a travel destination. Dozens
of agents, some of whom had never sold
Israel before, now are thinking about more
20
September 10 2009
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Tel Aviv at sunset
Aerial view of Masada and the Dead Sea
actively promoting Israel as a travel desti-
nation to their clients. We have also reached
out to more Jewish and Christian religious
leaders to make them aware of the spiritual
importance of visiting Israel and of how
affordable and accessible travel to Israel is.
Finally, we have been sponsoring since April
a photo contest in celebration of Tel Aviv's
100th anniversary. The contest is open until
the end of September with a grand prize of
What else should prospective
travelers know?
If you have never visited Israel before, this
is a great time to consider a trip there.
Airfares are among the lowest we have
seen in years. New accommodations are
being built — everything from budget
to five-star hotels. The food is great, the
weather is beautiful and the Israeli people
are ready to welcome you to their country.
Even if you have visited before, there are
always new things to explore, whether
it is one of the 200 world-class winer-
ies, luxury spas at the Dead Sea or the
hundreds of miles of hiking and cycling
trails that traverse the country. If you want
more information on sites and itineraries,
and on travel agents in your area who sell
travel to Israel, visit our Web site. We can't
wait to see you in Israel!
For more information on Israel travel, visit
www.goisrael.com.