The Toronto office of the Israel Ministry of Tourism thanked its diverse advisory board with Israeli cuisine and udpates on Wed 14DEC.
The end-of-year event brought together media and the board, a group of 13 professionals from “across the travel ecosystem” – including Maayan Ziv, Founder and CEO of AccessNow; Ilana Weitzman, VP Strategic Development of Clean Transportation; Raina Williams, Senior Regional Manager Business Development – Canada for Expedia Group; and Joanne Gellatly, Professor and Doctor of Business Administration of CTC.
The group convenes quarterly to discuss market conditions, post-Covid recovery and how Israel should position itself. “There are a lot of smart and experienced people in Canada to help us ‘get back on the horse’,” Gal Hana, Consul, Director for Canada for Israel’s Ministry of Tourism told me.
Expedia’s Raina Williams told me, “The way Gal has approached the advisory board is brilliant – with different perspectives, not just travel. We are putting innovation first.”
Accessible travel activist Maayan Ziv told me that she liked the “broad lens” Israel looked through while putting together the advisory board. And how much she appreciates that even in the ancient city of Jerusalem there are now ramps for wheelchair users. “Plus Tel Aviv has some amazing accessible spaces.”
Things are definitely looking up when it comes to tourism to Israel. 2022 is finishing at 60% of 2019’s Canadian visitor total. “And 2023 looks unbelievable,” Hana said. “We are even receiving bookings for 2024 because people are finding what they wanted for next year is sold out.”
While Canada has lost El Al as a carrier to Israel, there is AC service YYZ-TLV 5 times weekly and 6 times weekly YMX-TLV March to October. The average stay of a Canadian visitor is 9-10 days.
The Tourist Board also hosted multiple agent FAMs in 2022 and activated a big marketing and PR campaign with TravelBrands, making Israel visible Canada-wide.
And if the food of Parallel Restaurant is anything to go by, Israel’s culinary charms are great indeed. Between the challah bread and the falafel, sea bream fish, baba ghanoush, tabouleh, labneh, and halvah, the tastes transported us - gastronomically - to Israel.
