Tourism Ministry Sets Sights on India

Israel’s outreach to Asia continues with a major advertising campaign in India to promote tourism to Israel.

The two-month campaign, mounted by the Israel Tourism Ministry with an investment of 6 million shekels, features advertisements and marketing content in leading travel and consumer broadcast and print media, with a significant presence across social media.

The campaign is currently running alongside other marketing activity in social and digital media, travel-trade promotions (such as the recent road shows in Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai that were attended by 800 Indian travel agents) and hosting opinion-formers and decision-makers in Israel.

In February 2015, the Travel Agents Federation of India held its annual conference in Yerushalayim for the first time, and in March 2016, members of the Maharashtra Tour Operators Association visited Israel, introducing Israel’s tourism product to

hundreds of travel-trade professionals. Over 70 percent of Indians base their choice of destination on the recommendations of their travel agent.

Approximately 40,000 tourists visited Israel from India during 2015 (up 13 percent on 2014), and about 25,000 from January to July 2016 (up 6 percent on the same period last year). The Ministry of Tourism has set a target of 100,000 visitors from India by 2018, focusing its activity on attracting those tourists from the growing sector of middle-class Indians looking for vacation destinations far from their home country, as well as incentive and conference -related travel (MICE).

The campaign in India parallels similar activity aimed at bringing tourists from China to Israel.