Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., October 03, 2008 Tishrei 4, 5769 | | Israel Time: 02:17 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

New year, but fewer crowds, at northern beauty spots By Eli Ashkenazi and Zohar Blumenkrantz Tags: Israel News A predicted downpour that held back and fine weather brought thousands of people to the north for the two-day Rosh Hashanah holiday. The head of the Galilee tourism forum and the CEO of the Gonen Holiday Village, Meir Levy, said nature sites, museums and other tourist attractions were full. Eran Glick, director of tourism at Kibbutz Merom Golan in the Golan Heights, said the fact that the holiday fell earlier in the week this year had brought fewer people to the north than last year, and that smaller numbers might also be due to the fact that last year's campaign to get Israeli tourists back to the north following the previous year's war had not been repeated, but still "the tourist sites did well." Glick noted a particular demand for horseback-riding and all-terrain quad-bikes. Advertisement Thousands of visitors came to Beit Shean National Park yesterday evening for its new sound and light show, Shean Nights. "Although people left early to return to the center of the country because they were worried about traffic jams, demand for tickets to the show tonight was high," the park's director, Nissim Bados, said yesterday. Thousands of people came to the Jewish National Fund's Lake Agmon in the Hula Valley to see the first of the season's migrating cranes, pelicans and storks, and to stroll the paths. About a quarter of a million visitors came to JNF sites, the organization said, with the Ben-Shemen and Canada parks in the center of the country particular attractions for families on bicycles. JNF rangers said that despite the large numbers of visitors, they were pleasantly surprised by the level of cleanliness people maintained in the parks. The Israel Airports Authority said some 55,000 people were expected to pass through Ben-Gurion International Airport today, the first peak of the fall holidays. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, some 34,358 people landed and departed on 205 flights. There were a number of hitches in flights to and from Turkey. For example, a charter flight to Turkey of the Turkish airline Sky took off 24 hours late on Monday. El Al's subsidiary Sun D'Or had to pick up 180 travelers who were stuck for 10 hours in Antalya after a technical malfunction in the plane. El Al was among the Israeli and foreign airlines that added flights ahead of the holidays, with 30 more regular flights adding 20,000 seats to its lines to the U.S., Europe and the Far East. El Al's deputy director for commercial and aviation ties, Rami Levy, said about 75,000 Israelis were expected to take El Al flights abroad, about 50 percent of whom were headed to Western Europe, 16 percent to Eastern Europe - mainly Bucharest, Moscow and Kiev - and the rest to the U.S. and Far East. Some 51,000 tourists are to arrive in Israel on El Al flights during the holidays, more than half from Western Europe, mainly from Britain and France, 21 percent from the U.S. and 19 percent from Eastern Europe, Levy said. Levy noted that El Al's code-sharing agreement with American Airlines had allowed the company to offer travelers a wide range of destinations in North America. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Rise in anti-Semitism ADL warns financial crisis is causing upsurge in anti-Jewish activity on the internet. Bubbes for Obama Comedian posts video calling on Jews to lobby Florida grandparents to vote Obama.   1.   Fewer Crowds up North 13:26  |  Millicent 02/10/08

Read & React Ex-U.S. weapons hunter: Iran 2-5 years from bomb Responses: 112 Iran supreme leader: Israel is on a path to destruction Responses: 98 IDF commander: Rightist violence encouraged by settler leaders Responses: 48 Aluf Benn: Israel has become a schizophrenic state Responses: 44 More Headlines 01:39 ADL: Financial crisis sparking upsurge in anti-Semitism on internet 01:26 Deri: Court punishing my supporters by barring me from Jerusalem vote 22:03 Iran official: We may halt enrichment for nuclear fuel guarantees 21:45 Pakistan President gets fatwa for 'flirting' with Sarah Palin 00:53 VIDEO / Comic tells U.S. Jews to make sure their bubbes vote Obama 22:21 From The Fringe, Post II / Israel and modern-day slavery 13:30 NEW ON HAARETZ.COM / Play the news: Build your own Israeli government 22:21 TASE suffers sharp losses as Senate okays $700b bailout 18:50 Man charged with raping mentally disabled girl, infecting her with AIDS 17:49 Top IDF general: Don't be fooled by the quiet in the North 01:43 Olmert refuses to respond to questions on Rishon Tours affair 12:09 Report: Israel believes Syria renewing its nuclear activity 13:09 Rightist MK: Attack on leftist prof. being used as excuse to sully settlers 20:59 Lake Kinneret drops to lowest ever recorded water level 10:26 VIDEO / Israeli, Palestinian women come together to lose weight Previous Editions Select Day 02 oct 01 oct 30 sep 29 sep 28 sep 26 sep 25 sep 24 sep 23 sep 22 sep 21 sep 19 sep

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Dial 013 for your long-distance calls and get all your money back US CITIZENS Vote for real change. Request your ballot today! Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Jewish Singles Personal Ads Find the love of your life on JDate.com Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved