Things are definitely getting better, and no one could be more pleased than the Israel Ministry of Tourism’s Consul and Director of Tourism for Canada, Gal Hana.

In a recent conversation with Travel Courier, Hana reported that while 2022 started slow, things have now turned around and the destination is seeing consistent and steady growth. 

In fact, Israel reported its best month of this year in October, hitting 83% (just under 10,000 travellers) of its 2019 traffic from Canada.

Not only are things looking good for 2023, but Hana also noted that Canadian visitors represent a more diverse group of visitors – not only faith-based travellers – looking to explore Israel’s myriad of other options and experiences. 

However, Hana was quick to make clear that faith-based travel is and continues to be an important visitor segment for Israel that can’t be overlooked, in fact, it was the first market segment to come back after two years of not travelling. 

With that as its foundation, Hana said that going forward Israel will focus its efforts on building its share of the leisure market in Canada. 

IMOT’s Consul and Director of Tourism here in Canada pointed out that 2023 is shaping up to be an exciting year, with significant infrastructure investments planned for Eilat, Negev and the Dead Sea that will clearly help attract the leisure market. 

Big news for Israel is the fact that several major cruise lines will be calling from the port of Haifa, giving their passengers the opportunity for excursions to various sites and attractions. And as Hana sees it, cruising represents an ‘amazing opportunity’ for the country’s tourism industry.

In 2023, Israel will celebrate its 75th anniversary and, not surprisingly, there is huge interest in Canada to attend the many special events planned for the coming year.

As for the pandemic, while it has been a difficult two years, Hana observed that it also gave Israel’s tourism industry time to reflect on whether it wanted quantity or quality tourism. The answer was clear, said Hana, “we want quality.”

And he notes that Israel is now seeing bookings from travellers who are looking for experiences and are willing to pay for it. 

Talking to agents, it’s clear that there is lots of pent-up demand in the market, so, not surprisingly, expectations are high for 2023 and Hana promises that in the coming year, Israel will be everywhere telling its tourism story and inviting Canadians to come for a visit.

In the photo: David Covasneanu and Gal Hana.