NEWS CONFERENCE REPORT
ITT Conference 2016: Delegates pledge support for host country, NCL eyes Israeli market and country ramps ups promotion. Lee Hayhurst reports from Tel Aviv
Pic to come
‘Superb’ Israel wins trade backing at ITT Conference
UK travel firms that attended ITT 2016 have pledged to support Israel as a destination having experienced it during this year’s conference.
Vertical Group founder and chief
executive Peter Healey was so impressed by a trip to Jerusalem he vowed to start a city-break programme under his Instant Holidays brand. Healey said: “It would be silly
not to include Jerusalem in our city-break programme. It’s superb, it’s everything you want from a city-break destination. I’m not religious, but it was one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had.” Speaking before a gun attack in the city on the last night of the ITT Conference, he added: “I would not put people at risk. I feel more comfortable sending people here than Egypt at the moment. “I suspected security here would
be more comforting than alarming and that has been the case.” Monarch flies from Luton and Manchester to Tel Aviv and from Luton to Ovda (Eilat) during the winter. Eilat is offering a viable year-
Sales director Gary Anslow said:
“It would be silly not to include Jerusalem in our city break programme”
round holiday alternative to Sharm el-Sheikh, which airlines currently can’t fly to following the downing of a Russian aircraft last October. Monarch’s Tel Aviv services are
seeing a mix of leisure passengers, business travellers and those visiting friends and relatives.
“We see Tel Aviv as a great city break. It’s going to grow for us. I will be an advocate. Jerusalem surpassed all my expectations.” Anslow said Monarch was conscious of the security concerns associated with Israel but said customers would make up their own minds. “People will decide what destination is suitable for them based on a range of factors,” he said. “We are offering people the opportunity to come here
and they are taking it.” › Travel Weekly Business, page 72
NCL targets Israeli market as US sales dip
Israel is among the key source markets for Norwegian Cruise Line as part of its strategy to aggressively grow sales from this region. Two of the operator’s top executives used last week’s ITT
Conference as a chance to meet key partners. Other regions NCL is targeting with increased local presence and ship deployments are China, Australasia and South America. The operator said growth outside of its US homeland means it is
better equipped to deal with a slowdown in that outbound market due to warnings about security in Europe. Francis Riley, NCL’s international business development executive
vice-president, said: “We are de-risking ourselves from just being reliant on one major source market. The US has slowed down a bit.”
Anslow: ‘Jerusalem surpassed all my expectations’
Country ramps up promotion as it highlights safety
Israel is to promote itself as a sun and beach destination by supporting new hotel developments and attracting airlines to serve the country. Speaking before the terrorist
attack in Tel Aviv during the ITT Conference, tourism minister Yariv Levin stressed how safe it was. He said: “What we have in common with the UK is we are both islands in many respects. Israel is like an island within this region. “It’s a very, very nice house within a not very favourable neighbourhood. “Through 68 years of independence we have developed measures to make sure what happens around us does not affect us inside.” Levin said better relations with neighbouring Egypt and Jordan was helping to ensure the instability in Iraq and Syria was not impacting Israel. “There is no zero terrorism
anywhere,” he said. “But in Israel it’s really organised to ensure everyone is safe – you can see it and feel it with your own eyes. We are talking about it [terrorism]. The subject is on the table; we are not hiding it.”
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travelweekly.co.uk 16 June 2016
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