Eilat Ramps Up To Increase Tourism – New Airport To Come

Eilat, in southern Israel, is working to increase tourism as an upscale resort city. Eilat is the only city resort destination located on the Red Sea in Israel. However, Eilat currently has difficulty competing with its southern neighbors, Aqaba in Jordan and Taba in Egypt. These locations are able to offer package travel deals at lower prices because they can hire Sudanese at lower wages. These competing locations also have several beaches and the cities are larger, offering more for the crowd looking to party reasonably cheap.

Eilat plans to appeal to tourists looking for an upscale and unique vacationing experience and tour package that cannot be gotten in either of the competing cities.

Eilat To Become “The Capital Of the Red Sea” According To Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov

Stas Meseznikov, Tourism Minister, had this to say about what Eliat has to offer and who this wonderful city will attract.

“There is nothing better than Eilat, and nothing like Eilat. We’re not inventing something new here. We just need to market it in a manner that is both unique and Jewish… in order to differentiate it from other places. In Eilat, because it’s Israel’s only resort city, it can beat its neighbors not through combining with them, but through emphasizing something special. These are different [tourist] populations altogether. People who love to dive and who have a smaller budget will go to Aqaba or to Sharm [e- Sheikh, in Egypt]… Those who want extra, who want the Red Sea along with urban facilities, good restaurants and nightlife, will come here.”

Tourism Minister, Meseznikov, also has great plans to increase Israeli tourism to Eilat. Currently, many Israelis vacation to Bulgaria and Turkey because these places offer cheap vacation packages. This is what Meseznikov had to say about increasing Israeli tourism to Eilat.

“If we do something they will come to Eilat, because it’s like a mini version of overseas. I established a public commission one-and-a-half months ago to examine the different costs that go into package tours for Israelis. If we manage to reduce the cost of those package tours by 20-25 percent, believe me, the blue-and-white tourism market will grow.”

The 5 Year Plan To Make Eilat The Red Sea Hotspot

Currently, several projects are taking place to update Eilat, which will put “The Capitol of the Red Sea” back in the market to attract tourists from across the globe. Eilat has received 103 million in government funding, which is to be used over the next 5 years to reinvent this tourist hotspot for Israel. There are 46 projects total that this money is to be used for, 15 of which have begun already.

These projects include updating and beautifying parks, restructuring the the beach area and boardwalk, adding sporting and activities arenas, and adding cultural centers. One of the biggest improvements and additions to this region will be a new international airport, which will be located in Tinma (about 18 kilometers outside of Eilat).

The goal of these renovations, additions, and changes is to attract tourism and world events. The new airport, which has been approved by the cabinet, will make it much easier to bring tourist traffic in and out of Eilat. The new facilities will be capable of hosting massive world events. Over the next 5 years, the goal is to turn Eilat back into the Red Sea tourism hotspot in this region of the world.