The menorah lit up the chic salon of the Park Hyatt
Flori Goldfeder, Vicky Zaltsman and Alexandra Pelts of the YYZ Travel Group with Israel's Oded Grofman
Reesa Avelino and Tyler Zajacz from ACV
Ensemble Travel Group's Franca Iuele with Harish Shroff of Indus Travels
From the Globus family of brands,
Carm Orr and Antonella Santia
As the snow twinkled on the chic boutiques of Yorkville, a group of industry types (wholesalers, retailers and airlines) joined staff from the Israel Government Tourist Office-Canada to celebrate the Festival of Lights.
A menorah brightly shone, reminding us of the festival of Hanukkah; while the food, including hummus and spicy olives, featured delicious hints of the Middle East.
“This is our annual party to celebrate the end of the year,” Jerry Adler of the Tourist Office explained to me. “Our numbers are going up from Canada in leaps and bounds because there’s been so much response from the travel trade.”
Israel has engaged fresh new tour operators and retailers and people are catching on as a result, he added. “Israel is much more lucrative than a sun destination – plus we provide something for people to remember and share. They come back having affirmed their faith – they’re not necessarily churchgoers but to see the places where it all happened makes it real. Not to mention they now have bragging rights!”
Speaking of bragging rights, Oded Grofman, the Tourist Office’s director for Canada, has them in spades: with great pride he told us that the numbers from Canada are up a whopping 20 per cent year over year. He went on to thank the staff in the Office (“three people feel like 20”).
In chatting with guests, I was amazed at the variety of emotions expressed about Israel. “It gives you a feeling of the birth of humanity.” “Such a wonderful combination of old and new – and you feel so safe!” “The scenery at the Golan Heights is amazing.” “With so much religious strife around the world these days, it means so much to me to have gone to Bethlehem – it felt like a real homecoming.” And on a lighter note…”Floating in the Dead Sea – it’s crazy fun!”
Also on a lighter note, we were all greatly reassured when Oded advised us that the wine being served was “alcohol free” (not!) – so we were able to drink a hearty toast to the hard workers at the Israel Government Tourist Office. Despite selling a destination which has its undeniable challenges at times, they’ve turned in results which would have lots of more mainstream destinations green with envy.
Mazel Tov indeed!
