Israeli Tourism
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Sunday, May 13th, 2012
The vineyards of Tanya Winery in Ofra
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting five different wineries with some other tour guides and friends. The wineries were all located in the region of Eretz Binyamin — the area that was designated in the Bible for the tribe of Benjamin. Today it is part of the region known as Samaria, and there are at least 7 or 8 wineries in this small part of the hill country, a mere 25 miles or so apart. But before I get into the wineries themselves, I want to talk briefly about Israeli wines overall.
I love the story of the wine industry in Israel. Clearly one of the oldest and most famous industries in the land, winemaking was always an important identifying feature of Israel. Images, for example, of the spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan, and their reports of giant grape clusters spring to mind. In fact, that very image is the logo of both Israel’s Ministry of Tourism and the largest wine producer in the country — Carmel Wineries.
However, with the arrival of Muslim rule, which lasted for about 1100 of the 1300 years prior to the 20th Century, Israeli wines virtually disappeared. Since Muslims are prohibited from drinking wine, virtually all Israeli wine production ceased, with perhaps a minor resurgence during the 200-year period of Crusader rule in the land (1099-1291, with periods of Muslim rule inside that time frame as well).
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Posted in Israeli Tourism, Tour Diary, Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Crusaders, food, Gvaot, Har Bracha, history, Samaria, Shiloh, Shomron, Tanya, Tura, wine
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
Sun, Flags and the String Bridge - Jerusalem
On this Yom HaAtzmaut / Israel Independence Day, I’d like to write about something that might seem obvious to some of my readers. But it is far from obvious to all. Why visit Israel at all? Seems that as a licensed Israeli tour guide, it is something that I should think about and have an answer to.
Lucky for you, I do!
I raise the question, because yesterday I had the pleasure of being interviewed by a university student from the Netherlands who is writing her thesis on tourism in Israel. Among other things, she asked me an interesting question.
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Posted in Israeli Tourism | 2 Responses »
Tags: diversity, Dubai, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, tourism, Turkey
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
The Old City of Jerusalem
I love lists like this, where people list the top things to do in a certain place. But I find that often those lists are just a rehashing of the tourist sites you can find in any Lonely Planet, Let’s Go or Fodor’s Guide. And other times they list a number of places that barely scratch the surface of the location.
So I wanted to do something a bit different with this post. This is not a list of ten places to visit in the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is going to go a little bit deeper. I want to give you some things to do so that you really get a feel for what life in Jerusalem is like. So I have chosen ten categories of things that will help you feel like a Jerusalemite while also seeing, smelling, hearing and tasting everything that my wonderful city has to offer!
Due to length, I’m splitting this post into 3 parts. Now, in no particular order…
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Posted in Israeli Tourism, Primers | 3 Responses »
Tags: food, Garden Tomb, Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, Mount Scopus, Ramat Rachel, religion, Tayelet, Temple Mount, Western Wall
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
A band playing at one of Jerusalem's Friday afternoon summer street parties.
Continuing the list:
4. Get Some Culture
Jerusalem has a thriving cultural scene, full of great music, art and crafts. And especially through the summer season (which really lasts about half the year here), there are tons of festivals that can satisfy myriad interests.
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Posted in Israeli Tourism, Primers | 2 Responses »
Tags: archaeology, architecture, art, British Mandate, Davidson Center, history, Ir David, Jerusalem, Market, music, urban planning, wine
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
The Shrine of the Book at Jerusalem's Israel Museum
And now the final entries:
8. Go to a Museum
(Sorry, I couldn’t come up with a clever title for this one!)
I’m not sure who keeps statistics on such things, but I’ve heard that Israel has more museums per capita than does any other country in the world. (Okay, when adding links I found that these guys apparently keep such statistics, or at least report them.) And whether or not that is true, Jerusalem definitely has some of the most significant museums in this country that is full of them.
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Posted in Israeli Tourism, Primers | 2 Responses »
Tags: blood donation, food, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Magen David Adom, mangal, MDA, museums, Nachalaot, Ottomans, Yad Vashem
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
The best I found in 5 minutes of looking.
One of the common issues that any traveler needs to address is exchanging money from his home country for the local currency. I think most people that go through this procedure basically accept in advance that they will be ripped off, and just take that loss as part of the cost of their vacation.
While it is true that there is a high chance of losing money during such transactions, a very little bit of effort can save you a drop of money, and might at least make you feel as if you are not a complete freier (for an explanation of that Israeli slang term, see this post from my comedian friend Benji Lovitt).
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Posted in Israeli Tourism | 11 Responses »
Tags: dollars, freiers, money, money changing, NIS, shekels
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
PM Netanyahu: We need more tourists than people who live here.
This week I am attending the first International Tourism Conference being held in Jerusalem’s Binyanei HaUmah Convention Center. Focusing both on the changing opportunities and challenges in the global tourism industry, as well as on the unique attractions of Israel (and Jerusalem in particular) as a tourist destination, the conference has drawn hundreds of participants from around the world.
With panels on topics such as “The Role of Media in Generating Tourism,” “The Impact of Technology on the Tourism Industry,” and “Branding Cities,” the conference features politicians such as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat alongside media personality Chris Matthews (“Hardball with Chris Matthews”), MTV International founder Bill Roedy and museum directors from around the world.
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Posted in Israeli Tourism | 5 Responses »
Tags: Bill Roedy, business, Chris Matthews, International Tourism Conference, Israel, Jerusalem, Mayumana, Misezhnikov, Netanyahu, Nir Bakat, tourism
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Malha Mall archaeological site -- a village from about 1800 BCE
Construction in Israel is always a difficult endeavor. In a country with as long a history as ours is, every time a spade or backhoe touches earth, there is the chance (or even the likelihood) that you will come across finds of archaeological significance. And when you do, construction grinds to a halt until the archaeologists can come in and examine the finds, determining whether they are significant, and whether construction can even continue there at all.
In recent years, building expansions have uncovered an ancient church at the site of a modern prison and an ancient cemetery near a hospital. In both cases, the building plans were halted until solutions could be found. Sometimes the archaeological site will be preserved at the location so people can see the finds in situ — where they were found, and construction will be abandoned. Other times, they will be covered and preserved underground, with the construction proceeding above the site. And sometimes the material will simply be removed and catalogued for later research.
I’ve recently visited a few of these types of sites, all within the boundaries of modern Jerusalem. It is yet another reason why I love living here. I am constantly surprised by the history and archaeology that you practically trip over every time you walk around this magnificent city.
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Posted in Israeli Tourism, Miscellaneous, Tour Guide Course | 3 Responses »
Tags: archaeology, Arnona, Bronze Age, Byzantine Era, church, Derech Hevron, history, Jerusalem, Malha, Stone Age
Thursday, November 11th, 2010
Logo of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism
I’m going to try to start doing regular posts where I summarize recent news stories with relevance to the tourism industry in Israel. These might have to do with plans the Tourism Ministry is making, events or news about hotels or airlines, or anything that might affect the tour guiding business directly. If any of you come across relevant news stories that you think I might not have seen, please feel free to forward my way! Thanks! And as always, I’d love to hear any responses or opinions in the comments section.
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Posted in Israeli Tourism | 1 Response »
Tags: airlines, business, Canada, Chanukkah, Christian pilgrims, El Al, holidays, hotels, Jerusalem, Jordan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Tourism, Misezhnikov, Palestinian Authority, Russia, Tel Aviv, tourism, UK
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, seen from Manger Square (photo taken from Wikimedia Commons, by Wayne McLean)
One of the questions that I face as I prepare to become a licensed tourguide here in Israel relates to the future of this great country. Uncertainty is a key word that describes the situation of Israel’s future, and it makes preparing for my future career all the more difficult. It also makes my preparations more emotional, while I also delineate between my hopes for my career and my hopes for Israel’s future as a country.
A few recent news stories, that seem narrowly focused on specific laws that affect the industry, instead made me think more about what my career may be like in a future Israel. And they also made me think about what I’d like it to be like.
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Posted in Israeli Tourism | 3 Responses »
Tags: business, gravesite, history, license, Ministry of Tourism, Palestinian Authority, politics
