The Israelis won't do without their travel agent
22-Jan-2007

Some 35% of Israelis prefer making their holiday reservations through a travel agent 17% of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel reserve vacation packages over the internet These figures emerge from a survey carried out prior to IMTM, Israel's annual international tourism fair   A survey carried out this week prior to the IMTM 2007 fair, the annual tourism fair to be held February 6 – 7 at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds, reveals that some 35% of Israelis prefer to make their vacation package reservations through a travel agent. The survey, which looks at how Israelis prefer to make their vacation reservations, also shows that 26% of Israelis prefer reserving vacation packages on the internet, while approximately 19% prefer to make reservations on the basis of advertisements. The survey was carried out by the Geocartography Institute.   The survey also reveals that more men than women prefer to reserve vacations on the internet.

A surprising figure emerging from the survey is that 17% of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel reserve vacation packages over the internet.

Eyal Shmueli, publisher and editor in chief of Israel Travel News, one of the initiators of IMTM, says that “the survey data clearly show that Israelis prefer the personal touch provided by the travel agents. At the same time, there is a clear trend towards use of the internet to reserve vacation packages. I suggest that the travel agents should not ignore these figures, and should prepare accordingly.”

IMTM is the central annual event of the tourism branch in Israel, and it is intended to encourage incoming, outgoing and domestic tourism, and increase cooperation with many countries around the world. This is the fair's 13th consecutive year. Alongside the foreign countries, there are also Israeli representatives participating in the fair - tourism associations from all around the country, airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and service providers in the field of tourism. The fair is organized by Ortra Ltd. and Israel Travel News, and is sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, the Israel Hotels Association, the Israel Tourist and Travel Agents Association and the Tel Aviv - Jaffa Tourism Association.