Philippines, Israel ink accord on tourism

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines and Israel aim to strengthen the promotion and develop-ment of tourism between the two countries with the forging of a bilateral cooperation agreement.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. and Israel Tourism Minister Yariv Levin both agreed to develop a bilateral cooperation on tourism within the framework of the agreement signed by their respective governments in 1987.

Both officials agreed to the promotion of sustainable tourism through the sharing of best practices, exchange of experts and youth tourists and provision of trainings.

They also agreed to embark on exploratory projects on community-based programs focusing on agri-tourism and eco-tourism, among others.

Levin said there is an interest in opening new routes considering there are no direct flights to and from Manila and Tel Aviv except for chartered flights.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is expecting more than 10,000 Israeli tourists by year-end. Latest data showed during the January-July 2015 period, arrivals reached 6,900, a 44.35 percent increase from the same period last year.

On the other hand, Israel’s projections from the Philippines is around five to 10 percent increase by 2015. Statistics from Israel’s Ministry of Economy showed 11,156 Filipinos visited Israel last year.

“But, I think in 2016 we would see more because we are now investing in the Philippines. And we want to expose Israel’s niche markets to the Filipinos,” Israel National Tourism Office director Hassan Madah said.

The Philippines is considered the sixth largest market of Israel in Asia, with pilgrimage tourism as the most popular kind. The exemption from visas to Israel since 1969 has helped develop outbound travel to the country.

This move of the DOT to reach the non-traditional markets is still part of the current thrust of the agency called market development, which is to go beyond the usual marketing strategies, offer new tourism products and look into new markets.

“We’re going now towards markets that have potential for high growth and markets with potential for providing quality tourists in terms of staying longer (in the country),” DOT-Middle East director Francisco Lardizabal said.