Chinese tourists allowed to visit Israel

2008 will see 15,000 tourists arrive in Israel as part of organized tour groups that the Chinese Government has approved to make the trip. To accommodate them, the Israeli Tourism Ministry is on the lookout for translators that can communicate with the visitors from the motherland.

The Tourism Ministry has been printing adverts on its recruiting scheme to find translators as well as planning trips and schedules that they feel will be in line with the Chinese culture and habits. The Tourism ministry’s director general Shaul Tzemach says, “The tourism ministry works to adapt the Israeli product to the needs and the preferences of the Asian tourist in general and the Chinese tourist in particular, in order to boost the tourist potential to Israel from South-East Asia.”

Marketing campaigns selling Israel as a tourist destination in China have also been initiated, hoping to get their hands on some of the $375 billion Chinese tourists leave behind on their holidays every year.