Travel advisors may not be booking many client trips to Israel right now, but several are showing support for the country with their own visits.
Dane Steele Green, owner of Steele Luxury Travel in New York City, did start booking Israel travel in the days immediately following Oct. 7 -- to get people home.
Upon seeing what was happening, he posted on social media, offering to help those who were stuck there.
"Rabbis, heads of Jewish organizations started calling me, and within hours there was this incredible, naturally born network of people who were influential in their communities who needed someone to help people get out," he said. "I didn't sleep for a week. This network was built through people just trying their best."
Dane Steele Green, owner of Steele Luxury Travel in Asbury Park, N.J., picking fruit in Israel in December. Source: Dane Steele Green
Green wanted to do more. He launched "Operation IsraSteele" and flew in friends from Israel either to New York or to Mexico using his airline points.
"When they showed up, they were destroyed," he said. "And by the time they left, they were feeling good and ready to go back.
Green went to Israel himself in early December, where he served meals to Israeli soldiers and picked fruit in the fields by the communities near Gaza that had been attacked, where many farmhands had fled or been killed or kidnapped. He also helped set up apartments and homes that were donated to families from a destroyed kibbutz to move into.
"The point to go for me was to pump some money into the country and show support, and that's exactly what I did," he said.
Green stayed at the Norman in Tel Aviv, where he said the hotel staff was "incredible."
"They took care of me like I was their own. It was very emotional, how much they appreciated me just being there," he said, adding that at that time the hotel was about 30% full. "In the beginning, they helped families, they did whatever they could to use the facilities and hotel rooms to help. Everyone did that."
When Green was first approached by organizations offering packages for people to volunteer in Israel that were paying commissions, he was upset that anyone would try to profit off the conflict.
"I said this is not right, to create a revenue stream out of this unfortunate circumstance," he said.
But then, he realized it was a great way to help the travel community at a time when tourism was dead. "That's brilliant. This is how to bring money back. This is how to bring back tourism," Green said.
Israel is eager for travelers to return
Joanna Kuflik, director of travel services for luxury travel agency Marchay, had been living in Tel Aviv just prior to the Hamas attack. She and her friends there had a running joke that during the summer in Tel Aviv, "you hear more English and other languages than you do Hebrew."
On a return trip to Israel in late January, those friends told Kuflik they hadn't heard English on the streets in a long time, and they missed it. "We want people to be coming back," they told her.
Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv has turned into a memorial for Israelis killed on Oct. 7. Photo Credit: Joanna Kuflik
It was a sentiment Kuflik heard in stores, restaurants and from hospitality partners during her 11-day stay. While visitors are slowly returning, compared with last year, when tourism hit a peak, "it's definitely taken a big hit," she said.
Kuflik's January trip had multiple purposes: visiting friends and family, showing solidarity and volunteering. She spent time visiting wounded soldiers at Tel HaShomer Hospital, sorting donations for displaced families and advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
"There's just an inherent sadness among the people with everything going on with the war right now," Kuflik said.
Marchay had a number of client trips to Israel this year that have been postponed. She said some clients are interested in visiting friends and family, while others have expressed interest in solidarity trips and volunteering.
It's something she said hospitality-focused businesses in Israel would love to see. "The country as a whole, and the people as a whole, are wanting tourists to come back," she said.
Kuflik flew with El Al, the only carrier currently flying nonstop from the U.S. to Tel Aviv. She was impressed with the airline's hardware and service. She said hotels in Tel Aviv were open and staffed, along with restaurants and nightlife spots (though, she noted, some are closing earlier than before the conflict began).
"It was definitely a hard and an emotional trip, but it was a really important and a beautiful one," she said. "I feel like it was so rewarding in so many ways for people who are interested in the idea of spending some time there."