May Israel Travel

From: Adrian Cohen

Israel Offers
In this Edition....

First of all
Special Offer - Blue Bay Hotel Netanya
Special Offer - Mecure Suites Bat Yam
El Al news
New cave find in Israel
A gem in the Galilee
Rent a bike in Tel Aviv
Car rental news in Israel
Travel Tips
Mamilla - Quiz
Our products

First of all

Where do I start? Well what a month! In the first instance people who booked their package with a tour operator were  much better off than those who were D.I.Y. travel agents (see this month's Travel Tips below) who booked their own travel arrangements. We entered into unchartered territory last month and this was a very serious and costly incident for the industry and it looks as if this will not be the last of its kind. However, in spite of hundreds of thousands of people being affected by this, I do not expect a flood of people booking their holidays with travel agents in the future. Only when this occurs a few times will the penny drop with the travelling public- that being your own travel agent is not always cheap and cheerful.

Now to the day to day issues.

The big question is how are we going to increase the number of tourists to Israel? I suppose you have to go back in time to find the answer. Some of you may know the name Bruce Lyons - who along with his wife Heda  put Eilat on the map for the UK market. The Federman family opened the Kate Dan in June 1947 and put Tel Aviv and later many other Israeli cities on the map. Both are examples of hard work of great  tourism visionaries and entrepreneurs. As we all know 'Rome was not built in a day' and I know that everyone in our industry wants Israel to be a world tourism player - not tomorrow but yesterday! 

But there are excellent signs. First Julie Birchill wrote an excellent article for the Times -  click here to read it - then last month there was an excellent write up in Time Magazine on Tel Aviv - so we are moving in the right direction sadly it takes 'time!' (apologies for poor pun).
Blue Bay Netanya

Kindly note the following special rates will apply at the above hotel during August 1 - 31, 2010

The rates are per day and subject to a minimum stay of 3 consecutive nights

This offer is valid for bookings received at our office up to June 13, 2010.

$ 124 per person in double room
$ 210 per person in single room
$ 116 per person in triple room
$ 24 per child under 12 years sharing room with parents

Rates are based on standard type room and include full Israeli breakfast

Mercure Suites Bat Yam

Kindly note the following special rates will apply at the above hotel during August 1 - 31, 2010

The rates are per day and subject to a minimum stay of 3 consecutive nights

This offer is valid for bookings received at our office up to June 8, 2010.

$ 132 per person in double room
$ 230 per person in single room
$ 119 per person in triple room
$ 25 per child under 18 years sharing room with parents

Rates are based on suite type room and include full Israeli breakfast
Bike Riding Flies on El Al

Bike riders like El Al. The Israeli airline is the only known international carrier to allow passengers to travel with their bicycles free of charge.

"Israel is passionate about cycling and, as Israel's national carrier, so are we," says Uri Danor, EL Al's senior executive in Britain and Northern Europe. He points out that Israel's varied nature, its Biblical heritage and the climate attract cycling tours.

In order to encourage bicycling, El Al has hooked up with a mountain biking club to offer a discount on bike rentals for the airline's passengers. Tours include cycle paths in Judea and Samaria and an "Israel Heritage" charity bike trek.

Israel has invested in bicycle paths in major cities, while the "Nature Trail" extending from the northern to southern border has attracted thousands of hikers, although many of the paths are not suitable for bicycles.

Taglit-Birthright Israel offers 10-day "Israel by Bike" tours that include the Western Wall, Tel Aviv, the Golan Heights, Masada, the Dead Sea, camel riding and rafting down the Jordan River.

Israeli researchers explore unchartered Galilee cave

"A journey to the depths of the earth," is the way cave researcher Dr. Yinon Shivtiel, his eyes glistening, describes the first time he rappelled down into a cave just discovered in the Galilee.

Every first entrance into a cave is exciting, he says, referring mainly to his experience a few weeks ago when he rappelled 150 meters into the second deepest cave in Israel.

The cave was found near the Galilee mountain town of Peki'in by an amateur spelunker from Safed, Yuri Lisovates, who reported it to Shivtiel and his colleagues at the Hebrew University's Cave Research Unit.
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Shivtiel says there are others like Lisovates, "a very small group of people, mainly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, for whom this is a sport."

He says he understands why they love caves. "Discovering a cave is a rare experience. All your senses are awake: You know that you're the first to go in, you rappel in by rope into the unknown. You don't know when you'll hit the bottom - after 49 meters, 100 meters or in this case 150 meters. On the way you find stalactites and large chambers and spaces.

The deepest cave discovered in Israel to date is near the Druze village of Beit Jann on Mount Meron. Shrouded in legend, it is dubbed by locals "the whale's mouth." The first attempt to enter it was made in the 1960s, but explorers only reached 50 meters in. In 1984, spelunkers from the Cave Research Unit rappelled in and determined that the cave is 157 meters deep.

Lisovates says the equipment they use nowadays to take measurements, which includes firing a laser beam, is much more precise than in earlier times.

Shivtiel says the Cave Research Unit plans to enter the cave near Beit Jann some day soon to measure it again. "Then we'll know which is the deepest cave in Israel."

But even after that, the "journey to the depths of the earth" will go on, because the Galilee has so many caves, only a few of which have been revealed.

"This is a world of stalactite and stalagmite caves, vertical shafts and branching crawl spaces that are some of the most beautiful in the world. The authorities should treat seriously the stalactite caves that have been discovered in recent years, beyond purely scientific interest," Shivtiel says.

Scientists and amateurs question locals when they survey the Galilee for caves. "We talk to people who know the outdoors, including elderly shepherds who remember stories from their childhood about big caves. Another way to find a place where there might be a cave is to find dolines - underground springs created when rock dissolves and sinks," Shivtiel says.

The new cave was discovered when Lisovates and his friends noticed a crack in rocky ground in a dense forest that an ordinary person would not notice. "Air was coming out of the crack, and if you have experience looking for caves, you realize that when your standing on rocky ground and air comes out from under your feet - you're on to something," Shivtiel says, revealing a professional secret.

Despite the passion to discover new caves, the ground cannot be damaged and, of course, the crevice cannot be widened. "You squeeze into the crack and go very slowly into the cave. It's sensational," Shivtiel says.

And a word to the wise: Pack an extra rope before you start your descent. "You don't know how deep you'll be going," Shivtiel warns.

A Gem in the Galilee

I first met ceramic artist Tzafra Porat in January when I dropped by her studio on Kibbutz Kfar Giladi.

I was immediately impressed by her range of creative designs and by the artist herself, for whom ceramics is clearly a labor of love. As I entered, Tzafra, who was seated at the potters' wheel working on her latest creation, stopped, wiped her clay-covered hands and welcomed me warmly. She spoke briefly about herself and her work.

Born in Kiryat Tivon just over 60 years ago, Tzafra's personal history and that of the State of Israel are closely entwined. As a young girl she was active in the Labor Youth Movement and later met her husband, Yankele, her Nahal commander during military service in the Sinai.

She joined him on Kfar Giladi where she raised three girls and took on a variety of different jobs. In her spare time she participated in a weekly ceramic workshop at the local Tel Hai College. "That was the day of the week I really looked forward to," she says.

Following a two-year sojourn in London in 1986, where her husband served as an emissary for Habonim-Dror, they returned to the kibbutz where a terrible tragedy befell the family. Their youngest daughter, six-year old Raheli, was killed in a car accident near the family home. From the depths of despair and pain she came to the conclusion that life had to continue. A year and a half later Lior was born. He currently serves in the air force.

Following the privatization of the kibbutz, Tzafra decided to pursue her life's dream and open a ceramics studio and gallery selling a wide variety of rustic-style tableware. She can be found in her studio seven days a week and admits that "while it's hard work, I enjoy every moment. I return home exhausted but happy."

As for many Israeli households, Remembrance Day and Independence Day are bittersweet days for Tzafra and her family where personal loss (Yankele's brother, a pilot, fell on a mission 41 years ago) is closely followed by celebration. Tzafra belongs to the generation born soon after the establishment of the state and she is fiercely proud of the free, independent, Jewish state.

Having raised a family under the constant threat of Katyusha rockets and terrorist infiltrations, she remains optimistic.

"Though we live in the shadow of security uncertainties, we enjoy a happy and full life," she says. "I raised my children in the lush scenery of the North and despite everything, I never dreamed of giving up and leaving."

Carrying my new purchases, I take my leave of Tzafra content in the knowledge that I shall soon return to the Upper Galilee and the charming studio in Kfar Giladi.

Tzafra Porat can be reached at (050) 726-5955.

2,000 bicycles to be available for rent around Tel Aviv

After a two-year delay, Tel Avivians may soon be able to rent bicycles The Tel Aviv municipality signed the NIS 100 million deal to grant the bicycle franchise to logistics firm FSM.

Within a year, some 2,000 bicycles will be available at some 100 points around the city. Customers will be able to rent the bikes with a credit card - to prevent theft - and will not be restricted to only Tel Aviv residents. There will be annual subscription plans available, along with the possibility of just renting the bikes by the hour.

There will be about 500 meters between the bike racks at the rental stations, and customers can pick up a bike at any station and return it wherever they choose. The stations will be built in central locations such as theaters, hospitals and train stations. The system is modeled after the one in Paris.

The franchisee will be required to monitor the number of bikes at each location and balance the numbers of bikes available between stations, so that every point has bikes ready for rental. There will be room for 20 bikes at each station. Customers can use the service on a one-time basis or can buy subscriptions.

FSM is owned by publicly traded Fridenson Logistic Services (51%), Eytan Shamir (24.5%) and Lior Mertens (24.5%). Deutsche Bahn, one of the world's largest train operators, will supply the equipment for the project as it also runs bicycle rental services.

The city will buy the equipment for NIS 40 million, and FSM will operate the rental service and maintain the bicycles and other equipment for 10 and a half years, with an option for an additional five years - for NIS 5 million a year. The city and the franchisee will split the revenues from the rentals equally, but the city will also guarantee FSM a minimum of NIS 2 million of rental income a year.

The clock on the franchise period will start to run in a year. The rental stations will have a computerized payment system - in three languages. FSM will also be required to set up an Internet site with information and to provide a customer service call center.

Tel Aviv published an international tender two years ago to operate and maintain such a bicycle rental system all over the city. The project was frozen after FSM was the only bidder, and its bid came in much higher than the city's estimates. The municipality thought part of the problem was that the tender was too small with too few bicycles, and therefore too expensive. To lower costs, Tel Aviv approached its neighboring cities, such as Ramat Gan and Petah Tikva, to join in a metropolitan bicycle rental network - but nothing came of the idea.

In the end, Tel Aviv decided to go it alone, and has already paved some 100 kilometers of bike paths.

The Transportation Ministry will partially subsidize the plan.

Car rental pick up - drop off at Ben Gurion Airport.
Please be aware of new procedures for picking up / dropping off rental cars at Ben Gurion International Airport:

According to the Israel Airport Authority's decision, as of April 11th 2010 the Car Rental Centre returns from Ben Gurion Airport Terminal 3 to its previous location, in Terminal 1.   Therefore, as of this date, all car Pick Ups / Drop offs will be at the new location.

Clients of all the car rental companies will be taken from Terminal 3 to the new location by the means of a joint Bus Shuttle service.

Vehicle Pick up:  When leaving the Arrival Hall, clients will have to follow the signs directing them.
Travel Tips

OUR PRODUCTS 

Visit our booking one stop shop Israel web site - www.israelin1.com - well worth a 'surf!' Besides our reservations department dedicated to the individual traveller to Israel, we also have departments that handle cruises and specialist group bookings.  Our groups department handles all types of groups on a worldwide basis. From pilgrimages to weddings* and from study tours to trade missions to our most popular escorted tours.  

Our reservations department handles bookings for individuals to Israel, to include fly drive, flights, and hotel accommodation and regular day tours.

We also produce a Newsletter for the pilgrim market - you can subscribe by going to our web site and on our home page following the link  www.itstravel.co.uk

Not forgetting that we are bonded with ABTA as a tour operator (V1178) and as a travel agent (C6694), we are also licensed with the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL 2893) and an accredited IATA agent (91284771). So your payments are 100% protected, our professionalism is assured and you are getting the best value, for we are licensed to deal directly with the airlines and all the supplier.

Regards
Adrian

www.itstravel.co.uk