Monday will show the demand’s reaction to Israel conflict

Acts of terrorism near Eilat and Gaza’s rocket attacks by Israel don’t scare away Russian and Ukrainian tourists. Travel agents selling package tours to Israel are comfortable, too, they see the events as a one-time accident. This was brought to light on Friday afternoon by the Head of Israeli Tourism Ministry Representative Office in Russia and CIS Ms. Neta Peleg-Briskin.

“We got in touch with Russian and Ukrainian travel companies – they didn’t report any changes, cancelations or fall of demand. We are just about to sign an agreement on charter flights from Saint Petersburg and Kiev to Uvda Airport operated by Pan Ukraine airline. Nobody is going to cancel it. Every person I spoke to considers the recent events to be a quite exceptional case, one-time accident” – pointed out Mrs. Peleg-Briskin. She added that the rocket attacks on Israeli towns around the Gaza Strip have no impact on the tourists’ demand for Israel as well. “The tourists from Russia and Ukraine mostly visit Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Nathanya, northern regions and Eilat. The areas under attack are not tourist centers or resorts, so our guests are not afraid to come. The Russians realize that a terrorist attack can happen anywhere, even in Moscow” – said Mrs. Peleg-Briskin.

Nevertheless by the Friday night some travel companies started receiving cancelations of Israel-bound tours; however there are new bookings as well. After the polling of tour operators we came up with two possible ways of situation development. Or the tension at the border will ease, or the tourists, inspired by the news reports, will start abandoning their trips and asking for refunds. We will see who is right next week.