Amazing Israel

As Gal Hana sees it, opportunity is knocking for Israel’s tourism industry in the Canadian market. And as the new director for Canada for the Israel Government Tourist Office, Hana plans to “make some noise” about it during his time here.

Off the top, it’s certainly “noise worthy,” so to speak, that it has been four years since IGTO has had a director in Canada and Hana is clearly aware of that fact, telling Canadian Travel Press that: “Everyone told me the potential in Canada is huge and in the last four years, we haven’t had a director here in Canada. Jerry [Adler] and Ellen [Melman] did an amazing job moving everything forward, but I think head office has given less attention than it should have to Canada and now towards 2020 and beyond, [and now] we are really looking to push the Canadian market to Israel.”

As he takes up his new role, Hana is clearly passionate about selling Israel to Canadians, noting that: “Israel has a great product for the Canadian tourist. And why is that? It’s because the Canadian tourist is a sophisticated one that has been in several countries before. They know about tourism. They know what they want. They’re willing to pay for a quality product.”

And that’s exactly the kind of traveller that IGTO’s new Canadian director says Israel is looking for, explaining: “What I am here for is, first of all, to promote the awareness of the evolution of the Israeli [tourism] product. That it’s not only a faith-based product, but it allows you to combine many, many aspects in one tour.”

Hana continued: “I believe that our goal is quality over quantity. We are going to promote high-end activities with the stakeholders within the industry and show them Israel’s [tourism] product and explain why it is such a good opportunity.”

For the full story, check out this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press.