Today the international tourism exhibition IMTM opened in order to support Israeli tourism in these days of the war. This is the thirtieth year in which the IMTM exhibition is held, and this time it is different from the usual.
The Israeli pavilions look like every year, but from abroad only about 15 countries came to present, which is less than a quarter of the usual amount in previous years. A sad sight! Among the delegations that participated in the exhibition this year: Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Romania, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam, France , El Salvador, Czech Republic, Greece, Panama, Ethiopia and more.
It was especially sad to see Sri Lanka’s death row on the sidelines. I know for sure that tourists from Sri Lanka wanted to come to the IMTM fair, but the Israeli embassy in India did not give them visas (there is no Israeli embassy in Sri Lanka). They were suspected of being migrant workers, even though they are large business owners such as the owner of a large travel company, and the owner of a chain of 12 hotels.
We learned that tourism offices from other countries wanted to exhibit at the fair, but their employees were afraid to come to Israel because of the war or because of anti-Semitism. On the other hand, at the opening of the exhibition, we saw many ambassadors from different countries that previously exhibited at the exhibition.
Minister of Tourism Haim Katz cuts the film. On the left is Eyal Shmoeli
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Minister of Tourism Haim Katz, Mr. Eyal Shmueli, publisher of ITN and IMTM exhibition initiatives, President of the Hotel Association Mr. Eli Cohen, CEO of the Hotel Association, Ms. Yael Danieli, and more. The opening ceremony of the IMTM exhibition was overshadowed by an embarrassing scandal of loud travel agents and anarchists who desecrated the festive occasion by waving signs and interrupting the words of the Minister of Tourism by shouting “We want compensation!”. Tourists who have failed in their business demand in a vulgar and aggressive manner to send their telephones to the public fund. People fed up with hatred and filth, who introduced ugly politics into the beautiful initiative of IMTM, and also called for the replacement of the government and the resignation of the minister who is trying so hard to help them. Critics standing next to me responded to the disturbances with the words “shameless parasites!”. These travel agents are also not smart, because with their devious behavior they harm the willingness of the Minister of Tourism and the finance people to solve their financial problems.
In contrast, Minister Haim Katz was the only one who treated them with empathy and understanding: “Whoever protests, protests rightly. There is a problem and it needs to be solved. My goal is to flourish tourism, which is significant for the Israeli economy.” But that didn’t silence the noisy minds.
As you know, domestic and outbound tourism was stopped due to the war. The IMTM exhibition is part of the restoration of the tourism industry, which needs more than ever a start-up and growth. Despite the war, different countries take part in the exhibition in order to attract the Israeli tourist. For this we must praise Eyal Shmueli and his team, who took a great risk in running the exhibition in the sensitive situation this year.
The Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz, further said: “We acted and we are still acting in front of the Economy Committee in the Knesset. The Tourism Ministry under my leadership is working in every possible way in order to preserve the existing and allow a quick recovery the day after, in order to ensure that the essential industry workers will not be harmed due to the special situation that is going through the country. In this framework, we are trying to find a solution to the real problem of the guides. We continue to invest many resources in upgrading the tourist sites throughout the country and improving the tourist experience. The number of tourists entering Israel every day is gradually increasing. On October 8, 26 tourists arrived in Israel, while yesterday we already reached more from 4,000 tourists. We are going through a challenging period, but we have known crises in the past, we came out of them strengthened and I am sure that together we will break records.”
Eyal Shmueli, one of the initiators of the IMTM 2024 international tourism exhibition: “Despite the war and the challenging days that the State of Israel is experiencing, we are proud to open the IMTM 2024 international tourism exhibition for the 30th year. This year, it was especially important for us to hold the exhibition as a series in order to support Israeli tourism, since We see it as a significant milestone that can help small and large businesses alike. Along with local tourism, a variety of countries have come to support Israel and we are very happy to host them at the exhibition.”
IMTM is the annual and long-standing event of the tourism industry in Israel and is organized by “Artra” Ltd. and Israel Travel News, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and is held under the auspices of the Israel Hotel Association, the Bureau of Inbound Tourism Organizers to Israel, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Tourism Association, Al- Al, the Travel Channel and the Association of Travel Agents in Israel.
To the exhibition website – www.imtm.co.il
Photo by Boris Temnik
