Israel Tourism Roadshow 2019

The holy land woos Indian travellers

International

News - India Outbound

August 23, 2019

/ By , and / New Delhi

With the rising number of Indians visiting Israel, this middle-eastern country is becoming a popular destination among the Indian travellers. With a special focus on leisure and business, the Israel ministry of tourism conducted a roadshow in Delhi to introduce the destinations as well as new business opportunities that Israel has to offer.

A middle-eastern nation known for its sandy beaches, a cheerful nightlife, archaeological marvels and a sea where no one drowns- welcome to Israel! With a 21 pc increase in the number of Indian tourists visiting this middle-eastern nation for leisure, business and pilgrimages last year, Israel seems to be the new favourite destination on the list of Indian travellers. According to the data shared by the ministry of tourism of Israel, this upsurge in the number of Indian tourists is not sudden. There has been a progressive increase over the past few years making India the third-largest source market for Israel in Asia.

To strengthen this growing touristic and business relationship between the two nations, the ministry of Israel tourism organised a roadshow in the Indian capital city of Delhi on August 22, 2019. A presentation about the touristic, business and MICE opportunities in Israel marked the beginning of the event which was followed by an interactive session. While everyone present discovered some new facts about the country and its growing relationship with India, the travel trade fraternity got an insight into the business opportunities. The event was open to a select gathering of key travel and tour operators, MICE providers, up-market leisure operators and media personnel, and was presided over by Sammy Yahia, the newly appointed director of Israel tourism to India. The director of marketing, Israel ministry of tourism, India Judah Samuel was also present at the event.

Speaking to India Outbound Yahia shared, “Israel is a very safe destination for Indian travellers. A visit to Israel is not just a trip that you take, it’s a journey in itself. You can feel the inner peace. I want the Indian travellers to believe in Israel as a destination. Many travellers from India like to spend on shopping and activities. At present we are targeting leisure business and MICE, but we didn’t forget the pilgrim. We need to bring pilgrim to the leisure and leisure to the pilgrim. A combination of the two of them will be a win-win situation.”

Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea are some of the most visited destinations by the Indian tourists. However, as Yahia shared, many other destinations like Northern Israel can be interesting to explore. “We want people to go more outside the cities. In my experience, some of these destinations are more beautiful and even cheaper,” he added.

Rising air connectivity has made the travel to this land of Christ, more convenient. “Last year Indian airlines started three flights a week and now there are five flights from Delhi to Tel Aviv. El Al airlines have two direct flights from Mumbai to Tel Aviv. We are looking for opening another route,” added Yahia.

Besides a plethora of destinations that Israel offers, the country is also looking forward to enhancing the MICE activities. “We are more open for the MICE segment. We have some good five-star hotels, convention halls and we have it in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Eilat. The place that you will choose for your conferences will be some beautiful places like Eilat and Dead Sea. So you can have leisure as well the business,” Yahia told India Outbound.

It wouldn’t, thus, be wrong to say that while numerous offbeat destinations await the Indian tourists, this middle-eastern can open new avenues for the Indian business personnel. Shalom! (a way of greeting in Israel)

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