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| Israel launches largest ever UK tourism drive
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Trademark taxi featuring advertisements enticing local leisure travelers to Israel
Photo: Israel Ministry of Tourism
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Israel is to be advertised on the side of London taxi cabs for the first time as the Israeli tourism ministry launches an unprecedented campaign to attract British holidaymakers to the Holy Land.
Research into the trends of Brits heading abroad conducted by the ministry showed that people are becoming increasingly attracted by what a spokesman described as “sun and fun holidays”.
And Israel believes it is rightly placed to provide that opportunity.
Image change
A spokesman for the MoT told EJP he believes Israel’s image is beginning to change since the recent relative calming of violence, and the country will now be able to capitalise.
 We are telling people you can come to Israel and come to nice beaches and there are a lot of exciting attractions, things people may not have associated with Israel
Spkosman of the MoT | “If you look at the latest statistics, the numbers of UK residents visiting Israel have been improving for a while and there is a general calming in the geopolitical situation, so people have regained confidence in coming to Israel,” he said.
The spokesman said the ministry is aiming to attract more non-Jewish visitors to Israel, as well as the traditional Jewish holidaymakers.
“We believe we can be very successful. This a niche we feel that we can fill. It is important to note that we value the traditional market, the Jewish market, very highly, but we are of course interested in attracting others to the country,” he said.
Extensive campaign
The PR blitz will include a television advertisement campaign, on major British TV stations, posters on the London underground and banners on the internet as well as the taxi cab adverts.
“By focussing on the leisure traveller, Israel has adopted a new tourism marketing approach, tourism ministry director Eli Cohen said. “This is evident in the current campaign in Britain which seeks to broaden Israel’s appeal beyond traditional markets.”
The campaign, which will run for six months, will highlight the attractions of visiting Eilat, Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea. It will aim to showcase Israel as a centre for beach vacations and show the hiking and sailing opportunities.
“We are telling people you can come to Israel and come to nice beaches and there are a lot of exciting attractions, things people may not have associated with Israel,” the spokesman said.
The number of direct charter flights between UK cities and Eilat is also set to rise in the wake of the campaign. In 2005, the Israeli ministry of tourism initiated a successful program to boost charter service to the southern resort town.
In the first nine months of 2005, 114,862 British travellers entered Israel, six per cent more than in the same period last year.
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