Israel Tourism Commissioner Chaim Gutin with
Israel Tourism Commissioner Chaim Gutin withIsrael Tourism Ministry

Israel has launched its annual winter tourism campaign, this year in Russia and Ukraine at a cost of NIS 8 million. The effort includes advertising in mainstream, professional and tourism print media as well as billboards, radio stations, digital and social media.

Various vacation options in Israel are presented, including entertainment and leisure, positioning the Jewish State with Israel as “the Holy Land with Jerusalem at its center.”

The campaign focuses on Jerusalem, Nazareth and the Galilee, targeting the religious market as well as a wider group interested in vacations that pinpoint history and culture.

The Tourism Ministry is also engaging in activities with the local industry in the source target  countries, said spokeswoman Lydia Weitzman.

Activities include participation in trade fairs and seminars, public relations activities, recruitment of new wholesalers and more.

The Tourism Ministry is also building a campaign to target the “home front” and rebuild domestic tourism to the southern region with the slogan, “It's so good you've come south.”

The NIS 300,000 campaign, expected to last two weeks, invites Israelis to visit tourism sites in the south and to acquaint themselves with the wide range of attractions available in the region.