Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., October 27, 2008 Tishrei 28, 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 Peres Center Travel Week's End Anglo File

The bright side: lots of great vacation deals By Irit Rosenblum Tags: tourism, Israel News For now at least, the tourism industry is not suffering too badly from the world financial crisis, in part because the economic slowdown seems to be coinciding - so far - with the regular slowdown of the post-holiday season and the start of winter. For outgoing tourism, the number of charter flights is dropping sharply and few Israelis take vacations. Yet, this does not mean that the tourism industry is immune to what is happening all over the globe. But there is a positive side to the crisis, too - at least for those Israelis going abroad. Prices for holidays in Turkey should plummet for a number of reasons, not just because of the end of the annual vacation season. Among the reasons are the steep drop in the Turkish currency, the fall in oil prices and a reduction in the number of Russian tourists, who flooded Turkey over the past year or two. Advertisement At the same time, airlines are cutting back on the number of flights and seats to and from Israel starting this week. As for internal Israeli tourism, the Sukkot holidays were no boon for the industry in the country's north, since a large number of Israelis took advantage of the low prices and flew to Turkey. Even those who stayed at home appreciated the competition posed by the lower overseas vacation prices, since Israeli tourism providers had to maintain comparatively low prices this year, too, in order to compete. In addition, northern tourism providers feel that in the coming months Israelis will try to save money by taking more day trips and fewer overnight stays, a trend that was already evident during Sukkot, according to Meir Levy, the chairman of the Galilee tourism industry forum. Occupancy rates for bed and breakfasts in the north fell to only 65% this year during the holidays, compared to 95% last year, said Levy, though numbers improved somewhat for Simhat Torah as last-minute deals pulled in more Israelis. As to the rest of the holiday period, Yom Kippur seems to have lost some of its sanctity as far as tourism is concerned: The consensus over this holy day, which still distinguishes Israel from anywhere else in the world, is slowly fading away. Although the streets were empty of cars and Israeli television channels shut down, taking a vacation either in Israel or abroad, is no longer something that has to be done clandestinely. Once considered a caprice of the young and blithe, this practice is slowly becoming mainstream. This year, the calendar worked out nicely for those who prefer to atone for their sins abroad, as Yom Kippur eve was on a Wednesday, with the holy day itself on Thursday. Thus it slipped nicely into a long weekend. Some vacationers went only for Yom Kippur and the weekend. Others decided to take advantage of the opportunity, miss a few days of work and stay away until after the week-long Sukkot holiday. Most of those going only for a long weekend went to Turkey or Europe, but travelers taking longer vacations went farther away, to places like New York and Thailand. Yet reservations for Yom Kippur vacations, both at home and abroad, remained slow, said Eyal Kashdan, CEO of Flying Carpet, and Amos Seri-Levi, CEO of Planeto travel agency, ahead of the holiday. People were waiting for last-minute bargains. Yehuda Zafrani, deputy director general for marketing at Ophir Tours, noted that in recent years, many of the agency's regular customers who didn't care to observe Yom Kippur in the traditional way went abroad every year at this time. Typically, prices over the Kuppur period are 30% lower than for Sukkot or Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year - not to mention lower than they are in summer, he added. Ariel Atias, CEO of Walla Tours, said that those who go abroad for Yom Kippur are usually young families: long weekend vacations starting on Yom Kippur are 22% cheaper than on Rosh Hashanah. For example, four nights with full board at a five-star hotel in Antalya that started on October 8, Yom Kippur eve, cost $460 per person, compared to $560 on Rosh Hashanah and $620 during Sukkot. Prices in Bodrum and Marmaris started at $400 for three-star hotels with half-board and went as high as $500 for full board at five-star hotels. Package deals for four nights in Barcelona started at $800 per person at three-star hotels, including breakfast. Kishrei Teufa said it added special flights from Tel Aviv to the Turkish resort cities of Antalya, Bodrum and Dalaman. Dudu Mahleb, deputy CEO for Arkia International, said that most of the demand for flights was for European cities such as Barcelona, Munich, Berlin and Paris. But since most Israelis still prefer to stay in Israel for Yom Kippur, Etti Simchi of Diesenhaus Unitours noted that travelers willing to be spontaneous about their destination and flight dates saved significantly on costs by waiting until the last minute. The Sinai had been a favorite "escape destination" on Yom Kippur. But the number of Israelis heading south to the desert peninsula has declined in recent years due to travel advisories. Yet the warnings didn't stop bookings from both younger and older Israelis. "Reservations for Yom Kippur are usually made at the last minute," noted Oren Amir, of Sinai Peninsula Hotels: but he added that there was a clear trend toward visiting Jordan instead. Ziad Tantawi, general manager of the Hilton Taba Resort, said his hotel did receive reservations for Yom Kippur from Israeli families. Prices there are the same throughout the holiday season - NIS 520 per double room, including breakfast. Most Israeli hotels in Israel, following the requirements of their kashrut supervisors, serve meals before and after the fast. But for vacationers who want breakfast, there is a self-service buffet of cold dishes. In Eilat, however, things are done a bit differently: The hotels serve meals right before and after the fast, but also at regular times, while still observing the rule that precludes cooking on Yom Kippur (meaning no scrambled eggs or espresso). Meals are also served at the hotels for the benefit of the non-Jewish tourists. The cost of meals on Kippur is a function of the holiday package. Vacationers who bought a bed-and-breakfast package received only the buffet breakfast on Yom Kippur, while people who ordered half-board could have have dinner either immediately before the fast, in a nod to the special day after all, or at the regular dinner hour. Zohar Blumenkrantz contributed to this report. Bookmark to del.icio.us   New anti-Semitism? German economist equates criticism of bankers with 1930s scapegoating of Jews. Playing with fire Hebrew University study shows humans made fire as early as 790,000 years ago.

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