Director-General of the Ministry of Tourism in a special interview with "Israel Today": The crisis in a severe industry that was not the same in the world even during the wars • "On the weekends will be assigned ranges of surnames that will receive permission to travel"

• Hikers in the north, on more beautiful days // Photo: Eyal Margolin-Ginny

The industry that has suffered the most severe blow to the Corona challenge is the tourism industry. The vast majority of workers were laid off or taken on leave without pay, almost one hundred percent of Israeli hotels closed, as in most countries in the world, the sky is almost completely empty with only three airlines operating in the country.

However, in the not too distant future - the hotels will reopen, and the planes will fly again in the sky. At the same time, the industry will not be similar to what we knew. And when will that happen? Director of the Tourism Ministry, Amir Halevi, in a special interview with "Israel Today".

Reporter: Shimon Yaish // Photo: Gil Kramer

Halevi opens the interview in "Israel Today" with an interesting statement that Israeli residents will be divided into groups, all with the aim of releasing the pressure and reviving tourism in a controlled manner. "We are already starting plans to revive tourism, the Treasury is putting the people of Israel into depression and they think tourism is gone for the coming year, but that is not so. This closure will not last long. One of the ways we look at is to divide the people by groups And for example, if we divide it by surnames, then on a certain weekend everyone whose first name begins with the letters 1 and 2 will come out and the weekend after that they will go all out. There will be control, but we already want to release the pressure It is clear to us that in the first stage we want to bring Israelis to hotels in Israel, we have an amazing experience from a solid cliff, where we spent km Great fine, and after a month and a half the economy was on the floor, we revived it. "

Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, Amir Halevi // Photo: Dudu and Akinin

What about outbound and inbound tourism?

"We know it will take time for inbound tourism, disabled planes and so do airlines, some of the planes will be foreclosure to leasing companies. This is an aviation and tourism crisis that was unparalleled in the world even during the wars. We are looking at how we will encourage airlines to come here. We are already testing flights to the country in October, and United States is also looking into increasing activity this summer, with some companies looking into June and July. Of the State of Israel for the day after Revegia has announced that all existing taxes will be eliminated in order for airlines to return to the country which is amazing, we must take such steps and bring the airlines as quickly as possible. We are just waiting for the treasure, but it is very slow. It will be in stages, it will not be in one stroke but it will happen. "We have to get it ready and it's important to be first."

Standard character for cleaning

What will tourism look like the next day?

"The day after will also be different at the customer level. None of us want to go somewhere we're not sure how hygienic it is. Until there is a vaccine or cure, and even after, we understand that people will look into the eyes. The Treasury Department said they would help businesses adjust to the situation The new, obviously, the state of maintenance in all hotels will be different and this is true for every business. We explicitly say that there are plans for the hotels to disinfect the rooms, the sanitized rooms will be marked, will be standard and we are also working on a room, everything will be different, we always look at a few scenarios At the same time, however, the cleanliness of restaurants and hotels will be much better than anything Are synchronized to this day. We have the money from the Treasury now, there is no time to wait, but bring it just in a few months, we'll be late and other countries anticipate us. "

And what about the prices on the day that tourism starts to wake up?

"After this closure everyone will have to relax and it is clear that hotel prices will be significantly cheaper than they used to be. Domestic tourism will be the base and slowly foreign tourism will also evolve. For flights, it is difficult to know what prices will be, if there will be slightly higher price flights, but here You don't know, you have to see how many airlines are nationalized, these are processes that take a long time and I am sure the economy will work out. The airlines have a lot of time to prepare for the day after and just like the hotels, they will make sure the planes are very clean. It will be gradual but I am optimistic. "