Israel and Cyprus agree on joint tourist packages for Russians

As Cypriot news outlet Ant1 reported, from 2020 Cyprus and Israel will promote joint travel packages for tourists in Russia, the U.S. and Germany, focusing on golf, gastronomy and wellness holidays. A statement from Cypriot Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios and Israel’s Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevi said the two countries “reached an agreement regarding ways and actions that must be taken towards a successful promotion of joint packages, planned to begin next year.”  The packages will be promoted in Russia, the U.S., and Germany, in the first stage, while other countries will follow, the statement said. 

During the meeting, the two sides reconfirmed that gastronomy was “very important” for both countries and would be the pillar of a joint thematic route, with a single excursion package that will attract visitors to both Israel and Cyprus.  Moreover, the two delegations discussed a second joint package that would give visitors the ability to visit Cyprus for golf tourism and Israel for health and wellness tourism.  They also decided to participate in cruise tourism exhibitions with joint pavilions. 

According to official data, 316 000 Russian tourists visited Israel in 2018, while a total of 783 631 Russian travelers came to Cyprus during the year.