While
Israels bombing of Lebanon destroyed Lebanons tourism industry,
tourism in Israel is showing little impact. According to Ruth
Mekel, a spokeswoman for Israel Tourism, the cancellations are so
few as to be statistically nonexistent.
Some persons are
postponing and some are changing their itineraries, Mekel said.
Many are waiting to see what happens before deciding whether to
change their plans. But there are few cancellations for now, she
said.
Tourism in the north,
which is in range of Hezbollahs rockets, is curtailed, Mekel said.
Tour operators are re-routing their customers from Haifa, the Golan
Heights and other northern areas, but there are still many tourists
visiting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee area, the Dead
Sea, the Red Sea and Eilat.
It sounds crazy and
unbelievable, said Ronen Paldi, president of Yalla Tours, but we
have had very few cancellations.
One of the reasons
there are few cancellations, Paldi said, is that the profile of the
passenger to Israel has changed. They are either Jews or Christians
who to travel for family or spiritual reasons. For the last 24
months, people are traveling to Israel to make a stand, to send a
message that they support Israel.
Bob Drumm, president
of General Tours, said customers planning to travel to Israel are
not canceling and those who are there are not opting to return
home.
They are very hardy,
he said.
Isram World of Travel
also reported few cancellations but expressed concern for how much
longer that will remain the case.
I dont know how much
longer anyone can sustain this, said Eilene Lowe Hart, Israms vice
president of marketing. "The poor in Lebanon and the poor in Israel
-- this is very hard on them. We are praying theres an end to
this.
To contact the
reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to David Cogswell at
[email protected].