As Hamas continues to fire rockets from Gaza, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism is pushing ahead with plans to reopen the country foreign visitors Within weeks. Last month the ministry presented a schedule for the welcome incoming tourism, under which a limited number of vaccinated foreign tour groups will be admitted into the country in a pilot program starting this Sunday, May 23rd.

If the ministry’s plans to effectively test visitors for COVID-19 and track their movements prove successful, more groups will be allowed to visit the visitors, and if everything goes according to plan, individual travelers will be allowed to use the Start visit.

The first phase of the plan has some problems but is still on schedule, a ministry spokesman told the Jerusalem Post. Tour operators could only request that their groups be admitted to participation on Wednesday, when the ministry opened an online form at 10:00 a.m.

It was planned to accept up to 20 groups, but 40 groups should apply online so alternatives would be available if some had to cancel. The maximum number was reached within nine minutes and the application process was completed, said the spokesman.

The application process was “a total balagan [mess]”Said Rachel Spigelman, an executive at Amiel Tours.” We had a very short time to apply and we received a message that the first 20 had been approved before we even applied. It was frustrating. “

The victorious tour operators should be notified on Thursday and meet with government officials to clarify the rules for the pilot trips.

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All visitors must be treated with a vaccine approved by the Ministry of Health and come from countries that meet the requirements of the Ministry of Health. In addition, tourists participating in the pilot must present two PCR tests – one up to 72 hours before entering Israel and one upon arrival. The pilot program will continue until June 15th.

The late start will make it impossible for the groups to come this Sunday, but the ministry spokesman was optimistic that the groups could arrive by the first week of June.

“Given the current security situation, the small delay shouldn’t be a problem anyway,” she said. “In any case, the fact that the enrollment filled so quickly, even in these tense times, is a strong sign of the resilience of the Israeli tourism market.”

TOURISM MINISTER Orit Farkash-Hacohen was equally confident. “This situation won’t last long,” she said in a press release. “So I’m glad that the many efforts have borne fruit, and the pilot to bring vaccinated tourists to Israel was launched and received such a positive response. I have worked to ensure that the pilot for incoming vaccinated tourist groups is not postponed because of its importance.

“At the same time, the ministry’s staff are already preparing for the next, larger phase of tourist entry into Israel,” she said.

The group pilot plan does not include educational trips like taglit birthright groups that are approved by another government department in a separate mechanism.

Meanwhile, another tourism ministry official who had returned from the Arabian Travel Market conference in Dubai this week told the Post that interest in visiting Israel was high.

“This was the first time Israel had attended the Dubai Tourism Fair, so it was a historic moment,” said Ksenia Kobiakov, director of the Ministry of New Market Development. “We had meetings all day in a row and a lot of people came to our booth for more information. There is great interest and even people from other Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia wanted to know more. “

Even the fighting in Gaza did not dampen enthusiasm, Kobiakov said. “In most meetings it wasn’t even brought up – and if it did, they’d say they expect it to be over soon, and that’s it.”

Kobiakov noted that Etihad and flydubai already have flights between the United Arab Emirates and Israel and that the country’s third airline, Emirates, will start operating within a few weeks. A huge advertisement for Israel has already been placed in Dubai on one of the largest digital billboards in the world, a 175-meter screen that 750,000 drivers see a day, she added.

“The Ministry of Tourism sees the UAE as a top brand market,” said Kobiakov. “We have very big plans.”

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