Tag Archives: Israel

Amruta Bangera, Director of Marketing, IMOT, India, says, “Israel is safe and open for tourism. The first half of 2024 alone saw over 5,700 Indian arrivals to Israel. To attract more tourists, we are planning to introduce a first-ever e-visa program for Indians. Although still in its early stages, we anticipate launching a pilot run for e-visas by the end of the year.”

The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facilities during November, 2019 were highest from UK (12.22%), followed by USA (10.75%), China (8.06%), Russian Fed (7.85%), Malaysia (5.71%), France (4.61%),Germany (4.60%), Australia (4.16%), Canada (3.85%), Thailand (3.25%), Italy (2.32%), Singapore (1.87%), Spain (1.64%), Vietnam (1.50%) and Israel (1.40%), reveals Ministry of Tourism.

Israel has recorded a 21 per cent growth in Indian tourist arrivals with around 70,800 travellers visiting the country from January to December, 2018 vis-a-vis 58,700 tourists in 2017 and 44,700 in 2016. This marks a whopping growth of 58 per cent from 2016 to 2018, as per the statistics released by Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT). Speaking about the positive growth, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel National Tourism office in India and Philippines, Israel Ministry of Tourism, said, “2018 has been an outstanding year for Israel Tourism in India and worldwide as we welcomed a record-breaking 4.12 million tourists into the country. With a rapid increase in leisure outbound trips, India is an important market for us possessing tremendous potential to become one of the key source markets for Israel in the coming years. We have seen Israel emerge as a preferred tourist destination for Indians owing to its dynamic offerings, opening of more direct air routes and relaxation of visa procedures”. He also added, “Our marketing efforts, collaborations with travel agents, introduction of Air India’s direct flight operations from New Delhi and a further increase of frequency on that route along with an increase in seat capacity on El Al have contributed appreciably to the growth numbers. Ministry’s initiatives to reduce the visa fee for Indians coupled with the opening of a visa application centre in Kolkata have been seen as a welcoming move to increase interest among Indian travellers”.

Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) conducted a roadshow in Delhi to enhance commercial ties with the Indian travel trade fraternity. The 20-member delegation comprising destination management companies (DMCs) from Israel interacted with over 200 key travel and tour operators, MiCE providers, upmarket leisure operators and media personnel. Interactive B2B sessions, education programmes and workshops were held to aid trade members in planning itineraries and responding to customer queries. Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines said, “Tourism is on the rise in Israel and inbound arrivals from India has appreciably increased in the last few years. More than 44,000 Indian tourists have already visited the country from January to July, 2018. The introduction of Air India’s direct flight connectivity from Delhi to Tel Aviv received an overwhelming response resulting in the national carrier to increase their frequency to four flights a week.” In March this year, Air India launched its historic direct flight operations from New Delhi to Tel Aviv. Madah added, “We have positively introduced various initiatives to ease the visa procedure for Indians. Along with relaxation of documents for persons who have availed visas of Schengen countries, US, Canada, Australia or Israel and have completed their travel to these countries, Fast Track visa processing for Israel was also incorporated earlier this year. Additionally, reduction in visa fee to Rs 1,100 will encourage more people to choose Israel as a holiday destination boosting inbound numbers from India.”

In an effort to encourage more Indian travellers to visit Israel, the country has reduced its visa fee to INR 1,100 from its previous INR 1,700 charge for Indian citizens. VFS Global currently offers visa processing services for Israeli visas in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Centres will soon open in Hyderabad and Kolkata to service the residents in these cities, who will not be required to send their documents to the Consulates in Mumbai and Bengaluru or the Embassy in New Delhi. The revised application fee is on the B2 visa category, where a visit to Israel is for purposes including business, meeting or conference or tourism. Commenting on the initiatives, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines said, “We are happy to announce the reduction in visa fees for Indian travellers with immediate effect. I am confident that this move will encourage more people to choose Israel as a holiday destination and boost inbound numbers from India. I am confident that the revised visa fees will help grow the numbers.” In September 2017, the Ministry introduced one-year multiple entry visas for business travellers to Israel. Steps are being taken towards bringing more changes to make the process faster and easier for Indian travellers to visit Israel.

Having witnessed close to 60,000 Indian tourists visiting Israel last year, marking a record growth of 31 per cent, Israel Ministry of Tourism office in India is confident of achieving its target of 1 lakh Indian tourist visitors this year. To support the forecasted growth, the Ministry has launched its summer campaign in India to attract the April-June peak holiday season. The advertising campaign incorporates varied media platforms including television, print and digital spaces. The integrated advertising campaign ‘Begin your journey to Israel’ which includes the television commercial (TVC) showcases Israel’s famous cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Talking about the advertising campaign and investments made in the Indian market, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines said, “Over the past three years, Israel has recorded a strong double-digit growth in tourist arrivals from India. In 2018 January to March, we have recorded a growth of 15 per cent in Indian arrivals compared to the same period last year. In order to keep this momentum going and to tap into the upcoming summer holiday season, we have launched our advertising campaign. Our campaign highlights the reasons why Indian travellers should choose Israel as their next holiday destination.”  

Air India will get a one-time grant of 750,000 euros from Israel for launching direct flights between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, likely to be rolled out next month. “The conditions of the directive includes a grant of 250,000 euro per weekly flight, up to a total of three weekly flights. It is a one-time grant for an airline opening a new direct route into Tel Aviv (TLV) from a destination that has potential for incoming tourism,” said Lydia Weitzman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism. Informed sources said that the Indian flag carrier could start its direct flights into Israel from New Delhi on March 20, flying thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Dubbed a game changer in Israel’s efforts to promote inbound tourism from India, Air India’s direct flight between New Delhi and Tel Aviv would be operating on the shortest route and is expected to bring down significantly the cost of travel between the two countries. “The number of tourists from China to Israel doubled in one year after the start of direct flight by Hainan Airlines. We expect something similar with India,” said Amir Halevi, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Israel. SOURCE: PTI

Indian tourist arrivals to Israel have increased by 31 per cent from January to December, 2017 with around 60,000 Indian tourists visiting the country last year. This marks a growth of 48 per cent in the last two years, according to statistics released by Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT). Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India & Philippines said, “2017 has been outstanding and by far the best year for Israel tourism in India and worldwide. By October, 2017 we already saw 49,000 Indians arrive in Israel, breaking previous records, and we were positive to close the year with 60,000 travellers to Israel from India. With over 20 million outbound tourists a year, India has been an important market for us. Introducing initiatives, including easing of the visa process and with airlines in India and Israel expressing interest to increase connectivity between the countries, I am confident that this growth will help us achieve 1 lakh Indian arrivals in 2018.”

With an aim to encourage Indian travellers to visit Israel, the country has simplified the visa application procedure for Indian citizens. The relaxed visa rule involves less documentation for Indians who have availed visas of Schengen countries, US, Canada, Australia or Israel and have completed their travel to these countries.  For these travellers, the documents include a valid passport, completed visa application form, two photographs, cover letter with travel information, traveller’s insurance and passport copy. Hassan Madah – Director of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, India, says, “Easing the visa requirements will not only make the application process faster but will also increase travel to Israel as well. We are also working on an express service with VFS which will be introduced soon. In addition to this, we are working towards e-visa processing as well as easing the group visa process.” In September this year, one year multiple entry visas for business travellers was introduced. Visa processing is available through VFS processing centres located all over India for the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well as the Embassy of Israel in Delhi.

Aiming at a steady increase in tourist arrivals from India, Israel is eyeing one lakh Indian travellers to visit the country by 2018. “We have been very focused in tourism promotions in India and easing the visa process. This year, in the first seven months till July, we have already hosted 34,000 Indian tourists. This is expected to go up to 55,000 by the end of this year,” the Israeli ministry of tourism’s India director Hassan Madah reportedly said. Currently, there are three to four direct flights from Mumbai to Tel Aviv and numerous connecting flights from West Asia. There are talks of introducing direct Air India flights connecting New Delhi with Israel in a few months, he said, adding that if it commences, tourist traffic is likely to surge from India and this year’s number may reach nearly 90,000. There are a few global airlines that are waiting for the Air India flights to be launched, and then introduce their fleets in this direct route. “When this happens, we will see a surge in tourists arrivals from India. We have also been engaging with the tourism industry in India since last few years and are focused in many promotional activities. Due to this, we have set a target of reaching one lakh tourists from India by the end of 2018,” he said. For tourism promotions in India, the Israel ministry of tourism (IMOT) is spending $5-6 million in India this year, he said, adding that going forward, as the tourist traffic grows, the budget is likely to grow. Israel, which has positioned itself as an affordable premium destination, is targeting travellers mainly for pilgrimage, leisure and meetings, incentives, conferences, …