Foreign Ministry officials want to open borders to bring tourists into the country

• Seeking to open the country to tourists from regions in Italy and the United States

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The tourism industry in the world is in a very difficult situation and nobody can tell what it will look like, even within a few weeks of today. Foreign and tourism officials in Israel are trying to rebuild the most severely affected industry as a result of the spread of the virus.

Dikla Cohen-Sheinfeld, chief of staff of the Ministry of Tourism, addressed the possibility of returning flights, their importance and local tourism. "We are part of the inter-agency team that works to operate the flights. We sincerely hope that this will be possible and do everything possible to make July 1st happen. We asked the Foreign Ministry to include destinations that could bring tourists to Israel. For the domestic tourism industry to operate, we also need the flights. We are ready for July 1 but things are constantly changing. "

Cohen-Sheinfeld also referred to the high prices in the country and the possibilities of eliminating the isolation of returnees from certain areas of the United States and other countries: "When there is another competition - prices are currently high in Eilat because not all hotels have opened, and there is a problem here. We hope this will be resolved next week, And most of the hotels in the city will open, so in fact, the city's resort prices are expected to fall. In comparison, less than 30% of the hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were opened and we are in contact with hoteliers to make additional discounts.

"We will also encourage people to go on vacations in Israel as much as they can. There are various options that are not just the expensive hotels, and these are excellent and cheap options. Vacationing in Israel has great value - it is a Zionist act, helping the local industry. So even if our vacation costs a little more , It is better than flying abroad. We, as the Ministry of Tourism, also wanted to open the border to Austria, Germany, South Korea, some areas in the United States and even areas in Italy that could reach Israel. We work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and try to understand what is right. These are countries that have brought quite a few tourists here, and we really hope that they will succeed. It will bring about a very big change. "

Ilan Plus, the head of the Foreign Ministry's Economics Division and who coordinates all the flights and agreements between countries, told Israel Today: "There are quite a few countries that want and still want the Israeli tourist, as the number of people infected in Israel rises, this creates a problematic situation. Keep the situation in which the number of people infected in Israel will be as low as possible. So far, there are agreements with 12 countries and all that remains is to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Health and the Prime Minister. "

Yesterday, the prime minister announced that a government decision would be made to allocate about NIS 50 million to encourage tourism in Eilat and rehabilitate the city which was severely damaged during the Corona period. At the same time, the Tel Aviv Municipality, together with the Hotels Association, announced a summer promotional campaign aimed at encouraging a vacation in Israel. As part of the campaign, discounts and benefits will be given to attractions in the city. Encouraging tourism in Israel comes alongside a significant rise in hotel prices in Israel. The luxury hotels will hardly find a place until mid-July and the prices also reach NIS 3,000 per night. Lower-class hotels still have places, but prices are still high. At present, only about half of the hotels in Eilat have been opened, in Tel Aviv about 28 out of 95 hotels have been opened and in Jerusalem only 11 out of 69, the last two cities rely on foreign tourists filling their hotel rooms.