Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., August 12, 2009 Av 22, 5769 | | Israel Time: 08:59 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Turkish team comes to Israel in bid to woo back tourists
By Irit Rosenblum
Tags: tourism, turkey, hotels 

Some 50 hoteliers from 35 Turkish hotels, representatives of the Turkish tourism ministry and Israeli tourism wholesalers specializing in travel to Turkey met Tuesday at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv to find ways to draw Israelis back to Turkey.

In the wake of criticism and verbal confrontations between Turkey and Israel surrounding Operation Cast Lead, both official and non-official, Israeli tourism to Turkey plummeted by about 60% in the first months of this year, and hotels catering to Israelis visiting Turkey have been especially hard hit.

A representative of the Topkapi Palace and Kremlin Palace hotels says that the hotels have been making big investments in attracting Israeli tourism for the past ten years, and by 2008 were hosting 30,000 Israelis annually. "In the first months of this year, including Passover, our hotels saw a 40% drop compared to 2008. We have come to make a move toward conciliation with Israelis," he said.
Advertisement
Ahmet Barut, chairman of the Turkish Hotels Association, said that he understands the feelings of the Israeli public, but "we want to persuade them that they are welcome in Turkey." Israelis, he says, are emotional people, like the Turks, and so their responses are emotional.

"A little push is needed to get communication back into a positive mode," added the representative of a well-known chain. "What was going on was political, and politics isn't real life."

Turkish representatives also met with a few workers' committee representatives - customarily a fertile market for Turkish tourism and a moving force behind organized tours and trips for workplace employees - in an effort to persuade them to change their firm position against vacations to Turkey this year.

Turkey's ambassador to Israel Namik Tan reminded participants of the many-layered complexity of relations between Turkey and Israel, including economic relations, and noted that tourism represents the human connection between the two countries. Referring to the clash of words between Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Shimon Peres at the Davos forum in late January, Tan said it is not his place to correct the prime minister. "Something happened," he said, "but we need to get things back on track."
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Aiding Hezbollah
Israel's threats to Lebanon only serve to boost Hezbollah, writes Zvi Bar'el
'Pressure Arab states'
Bipartisan group of senators calls on Obama to lean on Arabs to normalize Israel ties
  1.   One Minute Mr. Erdogan 04:59  |  David Israel 20/05/09
  2.   Let the turks invite the tourists 06:39  |  American 20/05/09
  3.   what turkey did was 06:52  |  Victor 20/05/09
  4.   I guess the Arabs haven`t made up for the Israelis 07:36  |  Raymond in DC 20/05/09
  5.   Trip to Turkey, Rhodes, and Crete Cancelled 07:44  |  Brad 20/05/09
  6.   Self-respect 07:52  |  Hezi 20/05/09
  7.   Love the Israelis` money, hate the Israelis 08:08  |  Mike 20/05/09
  8.   keep your money AWAY from Turkey! 08:22  |  dudu 20/05/09
  9.   Economic Crisis is the problem!! Most Hotels Worlwide (including 08:48  |  JustMe 20/05/09
  10.   Turkey 09:55  |  zznhl 20/05/09
  11.   An Israeli who loves Turkey 09:55  |  Shuki 20/05/09
  12.   #.1. David Israel. Van Minut. 10:26  |  Stephen. 20/05/09
  13.   i USED TO TRAVEL TO TURKEY BUT NOT ANYMORE 10:31  |  Ron 20/05/09
  14.   Jews no,Dogs yes? 12:05  |  April24 1915 20/05/09
  15.   Just You 12:48  |  nina 20/05/09
  16.   No thanks 13:30  |  Yaakov 20/05/09
  17.   Just you from UK 15:34  |  David Israel 20/05/09
  18.   To Shuki 20:16  |  Ali 20/05/09
  19.   Is vs. Ar. 20:28  |  Turk 20/05/09
  20.   Turk from Turkiye 21:28  |  David Israel 20/05/09
  21.   New trend after van minut! 21:53  |  Turk 20/05/09
  22.   Turk From Turkiye here is a fact 22:40  |  David Israel 20/05/09
  23.   # 17 david 11:15  |  Axel 21/05/09
  24.   problem not Israel but turkey 11:42  |  Yaakov 21/05/09
  25.   Need article on Turkish tourism in Israel 08:33  |  Pat 12/08/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Dead Sea Salt
From the Dead Sea Coupon cofe Haaretz for 10% off!
hotel Jerusalem
David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
Master's Program in Desert Studies
An innovative, multidisciplinary, international program specialized in Desert Research
Dead Sea Cosmetics .Summer Specials
Velvet Hand Cream just $14.90
Handmade In Tel Aviv
Itay Noy, Timepiece Maker
ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
08:44 Israel asks Syria for info on missing IDF soldier
06:31 Avi Issacharoff / Fatah showed Palestinians democracy is more than just a slogan
06:37 Shas chief's little-known role in Benizri corruption case
05:53 Top left-wing activists face lawsuit for plagiarism
06:42 German Jews back campaign to reprint 'Mein Kampf'
06:46 Israel aids its needy Jewish students more than Arab counterparts
03:35 Israel cell providers must wait until October to launch iPhone
22:45 TV ROUND-UP: Lebanon tensions, Barghouti wins, Sinai travel advisory
02:33 IDF soldier who stole ATM card from Gaza home gets 7 months in prison
06:14 Israel looks to West Bank beekeepers to meet honey demands
08:00 Boy, 14, found hours after he went missing during family hike in north
07:33 Woman's dismembered body found in burning garbage pail in Ramat Gan
05:17 Negev residents complain police anti-terror unit troops party too loud
05:01 Pioneering Israeli environmentalist, former MK Yosef Tamir, dies at 94
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on 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