I recently received a question from a reader, Baruch, about the various courses for tour guides in Israel, and I felt it would be relevant to share my answers with all of you. Following my response, he also had some follow-up questions, which I will also share and answer here. But let me preface what Read More
Tag: Ministry of Tourism
On Politics, Squid and Israeli Tourism
Many of you may have heard the public flap that occurred when White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel arrived in Israel this week to celebrate the bar mitzvahs of his son and nephew. In case you haven’t, I’ll summarize. While in Eilat, Emanuel and family ate a seafood dinner in a fancy restaurant, then Read More
Update / Questions
Okay, so first of all, I’m really sorry it has taken me so long to post anything here. Things were pretty busy around here with the course and life. But I am going to try to post more frequently here. I’ll just start trying to write shorter posts!
More Progress
Finding a bit more time now, so hope to post some tour updates and more news stories soon. But just a quick summary for now. Tours that I’ve taken but not yet written about: Ein Gedi, southern Dead Sea area (Mt. Sodom), Modiin vicinity (Tel Gezer and stuff related to the Maccabees) and Sharon/southern Carmel Read More
When a Handshake Isn’t Just a Handshake
I don’t know about you, but I shake hands with people all the time, and I barely even think about it. Sure, I’ve heard the potential origins of the handshake as a sign of peace, indicating that neither person is holding a weapon. But in our society, shaking hands is as common as, well… a Read More
A Few Quick Updates
It’s getting late, and I have to be up early for our tiyul/trip tomorrow. So this will be a brief post, just to touch on a few quick things, before I hit the sack. Firstly, a brief update on the exam failure “scandal” I wrote about here. I got a few more “facts” and figures Read More
By the Numbers
There’s been plenty of coverage, of late, about the latest Israeli tourism numbers in 2009. And anytime there is a drop in the number of tourists from the previous year, it will be at least somewhat worrisome to people who make their living (or hope to down the road) within the industry. At the same Read More
Israel Tourism for the Sportsman (or Sportswoman)
Israel’s tourism industry traditionally revolves around a lot of things: archaeology, history, religion, etc. Straightforward resort tourism (beaches, etc.), outdoor/hiking trips and luxury spa vacations have also been mainstays of the industry for quite some time. More recently, there has been growth in areas such as culinary and/or wine tourism. Adventure travel (taking the outdoorsy Read More
Should I be Concerned?
There is obviously a tremendous amount of material that the tourguide course covers, both experiential and more academic. And when the two years of the course come to a close, there is still a large and intense exam that each student needs to pass in order to become licensed. People often mention how difficult they’ve Read More