by Suman Gupta
National, July 5, 2018: Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) has announced a four city roadshow in the months of July and August in India in alignment with its plan to increase Indian arrivals to the country. The Ministry will begin with its maiden roadshow in Nashik on July 19 followed by Ahmedabad on August 27, Kolkata on August 29 and concluding in New Delhi on August 30.
With an aim to enhance commercial ties with the Indian travel fraternity and strengthen media relations, the events will start off with a destination presentation leading to an interactive workshop followed by a press conference with the IMOT team. The Israeli delegation will be led by Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India & Philippines along with Judah Samuel, Director – Marketing, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India and will include representative partners from the tourism industry of Israel.
Speaking about the roadshows, Mr. Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines said, “Israel is an emerging destination for the Indian traveller and tourist arrivals have been growing progressively over the last couple of years. 2017 was a record breaking year for us with close to 60,000 Indian tourists visiting Israel, and we are constantly striving to increase destination awareness among consumers, Indian travel trade and MICE agents. Besides the source markets, we are looking to focus on cities like Nashik that has immense potential and recently conducted maiden roadshows in Guwahati and Lucknow as well. The plan is to organize 11 roadshows in different cities of India by end of 2018 and successfully introduce and reinforce the varied tourism offerings of Israel”.
Air India recently announced an increase in weekly flight frequency on the New Delhi-Tel Aviv direct route to fly four times a week starting 14th July, 2018. The airline will now fly on Saturday in addition to Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday every week. In addition to Air India, El Al Israel Airlines currently operates direct flights from Mumbai to Tel Aviv, and Arkia Israeli Airlines has also expressed interest to begin operations between Israel and India soon. Furthermore, the country has reduced its visa fee as well to INR 1,100 from its previous INR 1,700 charge for Indian citizens to encourage Indian travellers to visit Israel.
“Israel is becoming a popular destination among leisure and MICE travellers. Beautiful landscapes, historic attractions, availability of Indian food, increased flight connectivity, simplified visa process make Israel a great place for MICE and incentive travellers”, added Madah.
Israel offers a plethora of things to do and see to cater to the discerning traveller. From the historical city of Jerusalem to the beach city of Tel Aviv; from the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, to the marvellous underwater marine life of Red Sea in Eilat, Israel is truly a dynamic destination.
