The Israel Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines and the Israel Embassy vowed to work closely with the Tourism Congress of the Philippines to promote travel between the two countries.
Israel Chamber of Commerce president Itamar Gero said one of the priority areas for the chamber was addressing tourism challenges and opportunities between the two countries.
“Outside of direct flights to Manila, we know that the Philippines is the country in Southeast Asia that has largely remained an unknown commodity as a tourism destination even as Israelis have been known to travel a lot to other parts of the region,” Gero said.
“We also know that there have been some concerns among travel agencies specifically with the religious pilgrimage to Israel. We want to be the facilitator. Together with the Israeli Embassy, we want to streamline tourism to Israel and vice versa,” he said.
“Outside of the religious pilgrimages, Israel is also a thriving scene for events and conferences. Despite being a small country, they are also very much modern and have all the amenities of a first world country,” Tourism Congress executive vice president Aileen Clemente said.
Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau said Israel’s Ministry of Tourism was offering various incentives to travel agencies. “It’s important to note that the Ministry of Tourism appointed Hassan Madah as the tourism attache non-residence of the embassy and we are in the process of creating a new post for a tourism officer to support the travel agencies in the Philippines,” Ben Matityau said.
