TravTalk India Online Magazine
Yossef Fatael, CEO, Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association and Vice President, UFTAA, shares that the recent unrest in Israel impacted inbound tourism to the country only for a week, and that they are ready to receive tourists as they are the most vaccinated country in the world currently.
Nisha Verma
Yossef Fatael claimed that the impact of the recent unrest in Israel was only for a week. “It maybe hard to believe, but ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’ affected incoming tourism for only one week. Fortunately, humans have an extraordinary trait – the tendency to forget. The current conflict disappeared from our lives as if it never occurred and thus,we are now experiencing a boom in the incoming and domestic tourism industry with a sharp rise in requests to visit Israel. As well, Israel still enjoys its positive status as the most vaccinated country in the world and a country that is safe for tourists, and so is working hard on a framework that will allow a wide entry of tourists to Israel very soon,” he claimed.
In terms of the effect on businesses, Fatael shared, “Because there was no incoming tourism during ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’, incoming tour operators suffered no damage to their businesses. It is also worth noting the brotherly spirit and empathy that characterises the members of our association. As an example, a rocket fell near the office of one of our colleagues, totally destroying it! Yet with positive energies and a quick recovery, restoration and reparation of the office and business began almost immediately.”
Sharing that the countries from which the greatest number of tourists arrived on the eve of the crisis were from North America, Russia, France and Germany, Fatael revealed, “The Incoming Tour Operators Association is carrying out various activities and programmes in order to encourage tourists to come to Israel, including holding professional meetings, webinars and training for members. The Association makes sure to update its business partners from abroad, informing them about the latest developments about the regulations for the entry of foreign tourists to Israel. During the operation, the association also issued a call for ‘Enough Violence’and within this time-frame demanded a ‘stop the violence and riots in mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel’. The Israeli and Arab members of the association showed a unified front and contributed to the fabric of good relations in the cities involved. As well, during this period the association held proactive meetings with the various offices of the Ministry of Tourism from which the tourists have been coming in order to comprehend the trends and intentions and readiness to come. All this was done in order to improve and make more efficient tourism packages offered and marketed in those countries.
Throughout the Corona crisis (from March 2020) when the last tourists departed from Israel and during the ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’ crisis, the members of the association made sure to stay in contact with their business partners abroad in order to encourage their return to Israel.”
He claimed that the year 2019 was a record year for incoming tourism, with over 4.5 million tourists and the expectation for 2020 was to break all previous records and reach the 5,000,000th tourist. However, he opined, “With a wave of the hand, Corona wiped out this forecast. I believe that it will take some more time for global tourism to make a rebound and will reach the 2019 numbers in about 2-3 years (in 2023-2024). As well, I am optimistic about the situation in Israel, considering the extensive vaccination campaign Israel was one of the first countries in the world to emerge from the Corona crisis. I also believe that we will see a significant increase in the number of tourists coming to Israel in 2022, with tourism organisers returning to full activity.”
He pointed out that the State of Israel demonstrated to the whole world its amazing ability to deal with a global pandemic, and to be one of the first to beat it and to come out strong.
