Israel gaining more tourists by sea and air
Posted on August 29, 2007 • By Deena Levenstein
Category: Art and Culture |
A new cruise company, Azamara Cruises, has announced stops this year in both Haifa and Ashdod. The passengers will be able to disembark for on-land trips and stays overnight.
The cruise, Azamara Journey, is a 694-passenger ship. It is making two trips around the Mediterranean, stopping both times in the two Israeli ports.
Though the 1,400 people expected to visit from these cruises is a relatively small number, especially relative to the 12.62 million international cruise passengers expected that year, this is a step in the right direction of renewing tourist arrivals by sea.
Israel is a beautiful, exciting country to visit. With landscapes to please all tastes (rolling hills, mountains, rock deserts, sand deserts and seas) and activities for all types, (hikes, religious, historical, beaches, etc.) Israel should be overflowing with tourists. But, alas, with the often precarious security situation reported on the evening news all over the world, people hesitate visiting the holy country.
Following the beginning of the violence of 2000, all cruise companies took Israel off the itinerary. Israel always seems to have to fight for its tourists.
And so the Tourism Ministry is happy to announce that they have signed a deal with the Vatican. Using the Vatican’s new chartered flight service, the goal is to market flights to young religious Italians. It is expected that tens of thousands of pilgrims will visit in the coming months using these chartered flights.
The Vatican hopes that these trips to Israel, which include visits to traditional Christian holy sites as well as trips to Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea, will bring these young people closer to their religion. (Amusing that Jews are not the only ones bringing their young to Israel in order to strengthen their connection to their heritage.)
Nathan Burnstein, “New cruise company to visit Israel’s ports”, The Jerusalem Post, August 29, 2007.
Yaakov Lapin, “Tourism Ministry, Vatican sign deal”, Ynetnews, August 28, 2007.
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