Marketing highlights holy sites
The recently-appointed Minister of Tourism in Israel, Stas Misezhnikov, plans
to shift the direction of the marketing of Israel by concentrating on Israel's
unique tourism offering--the Holy Sites. In light of Pope Benedict XVI's recent
visit to Israel, Misezhnikov plans to actively target the Catholic market, as
well as the Evangelical market around the world.
"What Israel needs to do is focus on what it has that others don't have,
or in other words: the Holy Land," said Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov.
"Israel is holy to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the focus of the
tourism ministry today is to promote Israel as such."
Misezhnikov says that there are hundreds of millions of Evangelical
Christians around the world who only need to be encouraged in order to visit
Israel. In a campaign in the Americas, the Israel Ministry of Tourism is using
the "Visit Israel - You'll Never Be the Same" advertising campaign to
reach the Evangelical and Catholic markets, speaking to the spiritual
transformation that takes place when one visits Israel.
"The Holy Land--and at its center, Jerusalem--is the best tourist
attraction we have; no competition," said Misezhnikov.
When the Pope visited Israel in May, the tourism ministry launched a
dedicated website to document the visit. Of the 3 million Christians who visited
Israel in 2008, 1 million were Catholics.
"The visit of the Pope represents a strategic anchor for Christian
tourism to Israel in the coming years and the Tourism Ministry will operate in
all areas to realize the great potential in this type of tourism," Tourism
Minister Stas Misezhnikov said last month.
Israel is also targeting increased tourism from Russia, the second largest
source market after the United States. In 2008, 360,000 Russian tourists visited
Israel. The Ministry of Tourism notes that most of the tourists were
"regulars" who came for historic, religious, cultural, or rest and
relaxation purposes. Historically, many Russian Orthodox pilgrims visited the
Holy Land.
Religious coalition calls for fair tourism to Palestine
While Israel is actively pursuing religious tourists, particularly in the
USA, the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism has called for fair tourism to
Palestine. The call is issued to both pilgrims and travel organizers. The
coalition represents churches and other networks and is a high profile
campaigner for ethical tourism.
Part of the statement from the coalition reads "The Holy Land is home to
the three monotheistic and Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and
Islam. It is a rich repository of sites considered precious and of deep
religious significance by believers around the world. These sites attract
pilgrims in the thousands as illustrated, for instance, by media images of
visitors participating in Christian Lenten events. Around the world, too, many
travel agencies organise pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Obviously, to the Israeli
authorities, these are an invaluable source of tourist dollars."
"However, unfortunately, these encounters do not occur in a peaceful
environment. The whole region is under a pall of conflict and suspicion. The
territory in Palestine is under the control of Israeli law and administration
that persists with the closure of the West Bank. The Israeli tourist industry
discourages visits to the West Bank except for brief, controlled visits to
pilgrimage sites. "
"In the interests of justice for all, ECOT calls on the pilgrims and the
travel agencies which arrange these pilgrimages not to dissociate them from a
living context - the situation confronting the Palestinian people. "
The statement draws attention to the fact that Israel controls entry to
Palestine, and that pilgrims are often discouraged from using Palestinian
hotels, but instead bussed into holy sites in Palestine in Israeli vehicles,
with little opportunity for interface with the local population, who are hence
denied access to tourist income.
Belhassen and Santos (2006) discuss political dimensions of American
evangelical pilgrimages to Israel. Brin (2006) discusses political dimensions of
tourism to Jerusalem. Weidenfeld discusses religious needs in the hospitality
and tourism industries with reference to Christian (2006) and Muslim (2008)
tourists to Israel.