Israel: Becoming hotspot for Indian tourists

Mumbai, Aug 21 (SURYAA): Over 34,000 Indian tourists have travelled to Israel till July in 2017, marking a growth of 36 per cent over the previous year, an Israeli official said on Monday.

In June alone, Israel witnessed an exponential growth of 79 per cent in Indian arrivals compared to June 2016, said Hasan Madah, Director India in the Israeli Tourism Ministry.

"The historic visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel early last month has sparked a renewed interest among Indians and we want to leverage this to increase destination awareness," Madah told media persons as he launched a six-city roadshow here, to be followed by similar events in New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and ending in Chennai on August 30.

The visiting Israeli delegation comprising Madah, Ministrys' Director of Marketing Judah Samuel and others from the tourism industry of Israel interacted with the 100-plus travel, trade and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events) agents from India who joined the roadshow.

The two countries are well-connected by air with Israeli's national carrier El Al offering three weekly flights between Mumbai and Tel Aviv, and four weekly flights in winter.

Also, Turkish Airlines operates flights from Mumbai and New Delhi to Tel Aviv via Istanbul, Ethiopian Airlines from Mumbai and New Delhi to Tel Aviv via Addis Ababa and Russia's Aeroflot from New Delhi to Tel Aviv via Moscow besides other major European carriers.