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 Read More
Category: Israeli Tourism
Top 10 Things to Do in Jerusalem – Part 1
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 Read More
Top 10 Things to Do in Jerusalem – Part 2
For the first three entries in this post: Jerusalem Top 10 – Part 1 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 Read More
Top 10 Things to Do in Jerusalem – Part 3
Back to Jerusalem Top 10 – Part 2 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 Read More
A Practical Post on Changing Money
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 Read More
International Tourism Conference – Jerusalem – Part 1
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 Read More
Jerusalem’s Archaeological Surprises
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 Read More
Israel Tourism News Roundup
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 Read More
Thoughts on Tourism in Israel’s Future
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 Read More
Sample 1-Day Jerusalem Itinerary
One of the fun things that I do as I prepare to become a tour guide in Israel is practice! It helps me learn to plan a tour, make it flow seamlessly and learn such things as timing, reading the audience, use of visual aids and organization of material. So it is really a very Read More