Economy and Tourism
- Details
- Written by Israel Tourism Ministry
TOURISM MINISTRY INCLUDES GAZA PERIPHERY IN LIST OF AREAS ELIGIBLE FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
THE MINISTRY WILL GRANT NIS 1 MILLION TO SMALL TOURIST BUSINESSES AND TOURIST ACCOMMODATION IN THE REGION.
In total, the ministry will allocate NIS 8 million in 2014 to residents in the periphery for tourist business development and the establishment of tourist accommodation.
The grant for establishing tourist accommodation: up to 24%
The grant for small tourist businesses: up to 30%
Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau: "Tourist accommodation and small businesses are the core of tourism in the periphery. The Tourism Ministry which I lead will continue to encourage an increase in supply and competition and will make investments that will strengthen tourism in the periphery, create new jobs and turn the Gaza periphery into an attractive tourism destination for domestic and international tourists."
Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevy: " In recent years, the Tourism Ministry has invested hundreds of millions of shekel in creating a larger and more varied tourism product in the periphery for the benefit of the wider public and in order to create new jobs - investments that have brought billions of shekels into the economy."
The Tourism Ministry has published directives concerning grant allocations for the establishment of tourism accommodation and for small tourist businesses in the Gaza periphery, Negev, Nazareth, Acre, Druze and Circassian villages and in the villages that are located along the Gospel Trail.
In keeping with the directive, the ministry will give grants of up to 24% of the total investment for the establishment of accommodation units and grants of up to 30% for the establishment of small tourist businesses. The grants will be allocated according to the following procedures:
1. Assistance in the Gaza periphery and Negev areas in keeping with the policy of the Tourism Ministry and the government to promote development of the tourism product as a means of assisting and strengthening the economic infrastructure of the communities that are under security and economic threat.
2. Assistance for communities living alongside the Gospel Trail, Nazareth, Acre and the Druze and Circassian villages of Daliat al Carmel and Ussfiya in keeping with the government decisions as related to the multi-year program for economic development of communities in the minorities sector and advancing them in terms of employment and social issues in the field of tourism.
Grants for establishing tourist accommodation:
NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Daliat al Carmel and Ussfiya
NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Nazareth
NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Negev and Gaza periphery
NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Druze and Circassian villages
NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in Acre
NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living near the Gospel Trail
Grants for developing small tourist businesses:
NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Daliat al Carmel and Ussfiya
NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Nazareth
NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Negev and Gaza periphery
NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Druze and Circassian villages
NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living near the Gospel Trail
Requests for assistance to be filed by 1 March 2014 to the RuralTourism Division at the Tourism Ministry
- Details
- Written by MFA
Israel – Russia: 11th Mixed Economic Committee to be convened in Moscow
Tomorrow, Monday 9 December 2013, the Israel-Russia Mixed Economic Committee will convene in Moscow. This will be the Committee’s 11th meeting. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liebermann will head the Israeli delegation, accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin. The Russian delegation will be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.
The Mixed Committee, headed by the Foreign Minister, constitutes the highest level inter-ministerial forum for relations between Russia and Israel. The Committee discusses a number of diplomatic and economic issues of great interest and importance for both sides.
In the past four years, the Economic Committees met annually, alternating between Jerusalem and Moscow.
In the coming meeting discussions will address trade issues including a free trade agreement with the trilateral customs union (Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus), customs issues regarding exports of fresh agricultural produce from Israel to Russia, cooperation in technologies and management of water resources, cooperation in the field of oil substitutes for transportation, renewable energies, relations between Russian and Israeli companies in the area of investments in natural gas, scientific cooperation, space, foreign trade insurance, and cooperation in tourism. The issue of signing a pensions agreement will also be addressed.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in trade between Israel and Russian, reaching a current $3 billion a year. A number of agreements will be signed at the end of the talks.
- Details
- Written by Ministry of Tourism
THE OPEN SKIES AGREEMENT SPARKS INTEREST AT WORLD TRAVEL MARKET,
THE SECOND LARGEST TOURISM FAIR IN THE WORLD,
WHICH OPENED YESTERDAY IN LONDON.
A TEAM FROM THE TOURISM MINISTRY MET WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM AIRLINES
LOOKING TO EXPAND THEIR LOW COST FLIGHTS INTO ISRAEL
Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau: "The Tourism Ministry is very active in promoting the Open Skies agreement which is expected to reduce the cost of flights into Israel and increase incoming tourism. We are committed to reducing vacation costs for Israeli and foreign tourists and within this framework we are working to encourage the operation of low-cost airlines from Europe into Israel" The Minister told exhibitors at the Israel booth: "We must work hard to market Israel as an attractive tourism destination from Europe and beyond".
The four dayWorld Travel Market (WTM), the second largest tourism fair in the world, opened yesterday in London (10.11.13), with about 5,000 exhibitors from 184 countries and is expected to attract over 50,000 people.
During his visit to WTM, Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau met with the General Secretary of the World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) Dr. Taleb D. Rifai and with the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism Mr. Alexander Radkov. The Director-General of the Tourism Ministry Amir Halevi met with representatives of Ryanair to discuss their request to lower the landing fees in order to open up new low-cost routes into Israel.
Halevi also met with Hugh Aitken, the UK Commercial Manager of low-cost airline easyJet, to discuss increasing their flights into Israel from additional destinations in Europe. Halevi congratulated Aitken for being among the first in the low-cost sector to realize the significant potential of operating cheaper flights into Israel and added that the ministry will continue to work to strengthen this cooperation. The ministry estimates that, thanks to the recent implementation of the Open Skies agreement, the number of new destinations for low-cost flights will gradually increase, leading to a breakthrough in increased tourist traffic to the benefit of the economy.
The Israeli booth - which is smaller this year due to increased efficiency, spreads over 420 square meters and hosts activities related to the Open Skies agreement, including highlighting the openings of new hotels belonging to international hotel chains such as the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem and locating new tourism wholesalers interested in marketing Israel as a tourism product.
In addition to Tourism Ministry representatives, about 40 commercial tourism enterprises are taking part in the fair, including hotel chains, airline companies, incoming tour operators, commercial entrepreneurs, local authority representatives etc
More than 130,000 tourists have visited Israel from England since the beginning of the year through September, an increase of 3% over the same period last year.
- Details
- Written by Israel Tourism Ministry
- Details
- Written by Taub Center
Wednesday, October 30, 2013, 8 am – 2 pm Mishkenot Sha'ananim, Jerusalem
The conference will be conducted in English
The Taub Center is hosting a unique symposium with two of the leading researchers worldwide in the area of income inequality. The speakers will present cutting edge research – in a non-academic language – on the reasons for the recent surge in income inequality in most advanced economies, and on its economic and social consequences. The findings will be presented to senior Israeli policymakers and to the general public, followed by a high-level discussion pertaining directly to Israel.
8:00 am Registration and refreshments
8:30 am Introduction
Mr. Jay H. Sandak, President, Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation
Dr. Shula Recanati, Chairperson, Educating for Excellence, Taub Center Board Member
9:00 am First Session
Causes and Consequences of Inequality among Industrial Economies
Prof. David Autor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Increasing Income Inequality and its Impacts: Evidence from 30 Countries over 30 Years
Prof. Brian Nolan, University College, Dublin
10:30 am Break
11:00 am Second Session
Israeli Poverty and Inequality Trends in an International Perspective
Prof. Dan Ben-David, Taub Center Executive Director and Tel-Aviv University
Trends of Labor Income Inequality in Israel
Prof. Ayal Kimhi, Taub Center Deputy Director and Hebrew University
12:00 pm Roundtable: Implications for Israel
Chair: Dr. Karnit Flug, Governor of the Bank of Israel
Participants:
MK Isaac Herzog, Chairman, Labor Party Parliamentary Group
Prof. David Autor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Prof. Brian Nolan, University College Dublin
Prof. Ayal Kimhi, Taub Center Deputy Director and Hebrew University
Prof. Haya Stier, Chair, Taub Center Social Welfare Policy Program and Tel-Aviv University
Prof. Eran Yashiv, Chair, Taub Center Economic Policy Program and Tel-Aviv University
1:50 pm Honoring Ralph I. Goldman
Founding Board Member, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel
Honorary Executive Vice President, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Mr. Jay H. Sandak, President, Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation
To register by phone 02-567-1818