Tourism Minister Yariv Levin opens the Israeli stand at World Travel Market (WTM) in London

Ministry of Tourism Minister Yariv Levin opens the Israeli stand at World
Travel Market (WTM) in London and related to the improvement in incoming
tourism to Israel: “Today, it is already possible to say that, thanks to the
ministry’s actions, we are in a balanced position, an excellent way to start
2017.”

Ministry of Tourism – Jerusalem, November 7, 2016 – Tourism Minister Yariv
Levin today opened the Israeli stand at WTM, the World Travel Market taking
place this week in London. About 5000 exhibitors from 182 countries are
expected to participate in the three day fair, which attracts about 30,000
visitors, including representatives from the travel and tourism industry
from around the world, journalists and the general public.

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin: “We are the beginning of a fascinating and
significant period. For the first time, tourism in Israel receives a
significant place in the perception of the government. We have succeeded in
recruiting very large budgets, positioning the tourism ministry as a
medium-sized ministry, no longer a small ministry. We have experienced years
of problems related to tourism traffic, but this time, as opposed to
previous times, we continued our marketing campaigns and with even greater
force, expressing confidence in our product. Today, it is already possible
to say that, thanks to the ministry’s actions, we are in a balanced
position, an excellent way to start 2017. We are making significant efforts
to vary our activities and to attract city break and leisure consumers. If
we can continue with these marketing methods, we will achieve greater
numbers in incoming tourism. As a result of the legislation we passed and
the subsidies that we give to entrepreneurs and investors, I hope that we
will also be able to see many new hotels opening. I wish us all a successful
fair with wonderful achievements. My thanks to Ambassador Mark Regev for his
assistance and support.”

The Israeli stand, which this year extends over 400 square meters and is
inspired by the Two Cities, One Break campaign, features, among others, a
giant graffiti wall, cafes inspired by Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, images of
Israeli landscapes and more. Representatives from the Israeli tourism
industry are participating in the stand, including hoteliers, travel agents,
tour operators and representatives from airlines and tourism associations.

There has been a recovery in incoming tourism over recent months, with
airlines opening new routes into Ben Gurion and Eilat airports thanks to the
subsidies offered by the Tourism Ministry. The most significant increase in
incoming tourism has been registered from the Far East, in particular India
and China, where the ministry has launched widespread campaigns and is
actively working to open more new routes in addition to those offered by
Hainan Airlines that began operating direct scheduled flights from Beijing
to Ben Gurion in April.

The Tourism Minister and representatives from the Tourism Ministry will meet
with commercial entities, tour operators and airlines and will present them
the incentives that the ministry offers and Israel’s significant tourism
potential in order to encourage incoming tourism to Israel.

The Two Cities, One Break NIS 40 million campaign is currently entering its
second phase in Europe, with TV, digital and print campaigns in the UK,
France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine and Poland. The campaign has
its own dedicated website in different languages: http://citiesbreak.com/.

In addition, the ministry has just launched a NIS 10 million multi-media
campaign promoting vacations to Eilat in Russia, Finland, UK, France and
Poland, highlighting the contrast between the cold winters in Europe and the
sunny winters in Eilat. The dedicated Eilat website is currently available
in Russian and Finnish: http://traveleilat.com/tourist-info/. The winter
season in Eilat has just opened., with some twenty flights a week, most of
them low-cost carriers, expected to carry about 70,000 tourists into Eilat
from now through to May.