NEWS
Gal Hana, Director for Canada, Israel Ministry of Tourism
Stepping into the future with ‘Israel | Tourism 3.0’ TORONTO — If there’s any sort of silver lining for Israel amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that relatively low case numbers, at least compared to many parts of the world, should give travellers confidence in the destination. That was the take from hotel and tour operator presenters during the ‘Israel | Tourism 3.0’ virtual conference on Jan. 20. The event was produced by Travelweek and participation was strong, with viewership totalling 1,128 including Zoom participants and Facebook Live. Hosted by Gal Hana, Director for Canada, Israel Ministry of Tourism with a helping hand from Shai DeLuca, well known to fans of CityTV’s Cityline, the online event featured panel discussions and more with top Israeli hoteliers, tour operators and tech companies, as well as keynote speeches from entrepreneur Yanki Margalit, and futurist Dr. Ian Yeoman. “We’re starting the new year with optimistic news about the vaccines,” said Hana, who advocated an “agile, swift and quick approach” when it comes to post-pandemic travel industry strategies. “Although many prefer a comfortable life without surprises and crises or even unnecessary challenges, those are actually catalysts for improvement and innovation. The Chinese word for ‘crisis’ is combined from two elements: one represents risk and the other opportunity. Israel has had many challenges over the years that contributed to the innovation and creativity ecosystem.” 20 | TRAVELWEEK | February 4, 2021
“Q2 2021 WILL BE THE STARTING POINT” Of keen interest for the travel industry during the conference was input from travel companies dealing with COVID’s impact on tourism, especially the hotels and tour operators. “If I had been part of the movie trilogy ‘Back to the Future’, I would have definitely said, ‘don’t ever go to 2020’,” joked Lior Mucznik, General Manager, Eilat Region, Dan Hotels. He added: “But on a serious note, I would like to think that in three to six months COVID-19 will be history, making 2021 one of the best years in the past decade.” Mucznik echoed the feelings of many of the presenters when he said that domestic travel has been a saving grace for Israel’s tourism industry amid the pandemic. “From the start we knew we should rely on our domestic market,” he said. Uri Sharon, Commercial Director, Abraham Hostels & Tours, says Israel will win favour with inbound travellers for how it handled the COVID crisis. “I think there is a lot of trust for Israel with how the country dealt with the crisis,” he said. And Haim Douk, Chief Marketing Officer, Prima Hotels, Israel, said he sees the vaccine as a game-changer. “The second quarter of 2021 will be the starting point” to recovery, said Douk. Since December 2020, about two million Israelis, or about 25% of the country’s population, have received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. “THE MOTIVATION OF FAITH IS VERY STRONG” Top tour operators and MICE specialists took part in the event as well, including The Peerless Travel Group,
Eshet Incentives & Conferences, and Nazarene Tours. Artzi Korostelev, Executive Vice President, The Peerless Travel Group, said the VFR market, already very strong for Israel, would be the first sector to rebound for Israel’s tourism industry. Also a perennial performer, and one that will bounce back just as quickly as VFR, is the faith-based market, says Korostelev. Amnon Ben-David, CEO, Eshet Incentives & Conferences, agrees. “I do believe the faith-based market will be the first to travel to the Holy Land,” he said. “The motivation of faith is very strong.” Meanwhile the MICE market has also been a strong performer for Israel, especially over the past few years, and Ben-David says he hopes to see this continue post-pandemic. “The last five years have been amazing for MICE to Israel, worldwide but especially from North America,” he says. Peerless Travel’s Korostelev warns that while VFR and faith-based will be strong in the early months post-pandemic, “to bring back the average traveller will be much more challenging.” The pandemic has put a dent in spending power for many travellers, who may have lost jobs during the pandemic and won’t be prioritizing travel any time soon. “Let’s face it, a visit to Israel has become a high-ticket item over the past decade,” said Korostelev. He added: “Israel will have to remain competitive, not only around price points, but also on the marketing efforts and differentiation.”
Celestyal launches new reservation platform for agents ATHENS — Celestyal Cruises has teamed up with Versonix, a leading software company, to launch a new reservation platform that will be easier and more efficient for travel agents to use. The Seaware Reservations Platform is designed to provide advanced revenue management performance, a powerful pricing and business policy engine and a robust Celestyal Cruises customer loyalty program. Most importantly, the platform will offer advanced CRM functionality for both consumers and travel agents along with increased capabilities for agents to offer their clients a greater
