The leaders, who head the various communities of hundreds of thousands of believers, met yesterday with the Minister of Tourism and leading figures from the Christian community in Israel.
The Ministry of Tourism is hosting this week a leading delegation of priests from Brazil. The delegation includes 18 priests, including Evangelical and Catholic leaders from around the state whom their communities comprises tens to hundreds of thousands of believers. This is the first time that a delegation of this magnitude is hosted in Israel.
The delegation touring includes Old Jaffa, Caessarea, Mount Tabor, Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Dead Sea and Jerusalem. Last night, Wednesday 9/5, the delegation met with the Minister of Tourism.
Brazil, plays a very important part when speaking of their economical growth, development and their great potential in tourism. In 2011, 57 thousand tourists from Brazil came to Israel – an increase of 9% compared to 2010. Most Brazilian citizens are followers of the Christian religion, when 43% of tourists who from Brazil to the Holy Land, come for religious reasons and for pilgrimage.
The director of the Ministry of Tourism, Bar Nir, returned yesterday from a tour in Brazil. During the tour, he was impressed by the touristic potential and oversaw the opening of a tourism office in Sao Paulo, led by Susan Klgsboren, who was recently appointed as the office manager. The CEO also met with representatives of aviation companies, leading tourism wholesalers, Christian opinion leaders and journalists. In autumn 2012, the Ministry of Tourism of Brazil is expected to launch a new campaign, even though the total investment of the country's marketing expenses is approximately 3 million.
The Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov, pointed out that Brazil has the world's largest Catholic concentration, which is considered an important source of growth of tourism in Israel, also thanks to the Evangelical community which has tens of millions of believers who wish to visit the Holy places in the Holy land. In the coming year, the Ministry of Tourism will increase the marketing activities in Brazil in order to raise a 20% on the number of tourists.
