Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov sharply criticized the behavior of the government regarding the waiver of visas for tourists from the Ukraine. “Not signing the agreement, which was agreed between the two countries weeks ago, will mean that those Israelis traveling to Oman will continue to pay a high fee for a tourist visa. No less serious, the Israeli economy will lose millions of dollars expected from incoming tourism from the Ukraine that will not happen as a result of the visa obstacle.”The Tourism Minister made this statement during an address today at the 12th World Congress for the Russian-Speaking Media which is currently taking place in Tel Aviv.
In a meeting with Russian-speaking journalists who have come to Israel from 50 countries around the world, the minister noted that, in recent years, Israel has become a preferred destination for tourists from Russia, especially following the visa requirement waiver.
“In the near future, we will sign the 16th agreement with Russian tourism wholesalers – with Coral, one of the largest and most important in Russia which is expected to bring tens of thousands additional tourists to Israel each year. The Russian tourism industry is expressing more and more interest in the Israeli tourism product. This is an important expression of trust which not only contributes to bilateral tourism but also to the relations between the two countries.” In 2005, added the minister, 60,000 tourists visited Israel from Russia. In 2009, this number had grown to 420,000 and, since the beginning of 2010, we have already seen an 88% increase on the same period last year.
The minister noted that, since the beginning of the year, the Tourism Ministry has signed over 100 tourism marketing agreements (new and renewed) with airlines and tourism wholesalers, amounting to activities worth more than 60 million shekel (of which 20 million shekel is from the Tourism Ministry budget). These agreements were signed with the leading source countries for incoming tourism,(e.g., USA, France, Germany etc), alongside countries whose tourism potential has yet to be fully realized, such as Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Romania, Brazil and China.
The World Congress for the Russian-Speaking Media is taking place this week in Israel at the invitation of the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, with the participation of over 200 journalists from 50 countries around the world and 140 Russian-speaking journalists from Israel. The journalists will visit tourism sites in Jerusalem, the center and north of the country and participate in various events.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem / Tourism Ministry Spokesman)
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One Response
The article stated: “Not signing the agreement, which was agreed between the two countries weeks ago, will mean that those Israelis traveling to Oman will continue to pay a high fee for a tourist visa”.
Can someone kindly explain the connection between a visa waiver agreement with Ukraine and visa fees for Oman?