Israel Tourism Eyes Indian Travellers Beyond Pilgrimage

In an exclusive interview with Galit Hoffman – Consul, Tourism Affairs for India, Israel Ministry of Tourism, she talked about how Israel can be the next stop for Indian travellers who are looking for a holistic package that combines experiential, faith, gastronomy, and wellness tourism. 

As the Indian tourists’ move beyond the conventional landscape of tourist activities, Israel provides an experience suitable for all.

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   With the official launch of the “I AM ISRAEL” campaign, what are Israel’s expectations from the Asian market, and particularly from India?

The recently launched “I AM ISRAEL” campaign is currently focused primarily on the US, which is Israel’s largest inbound source market. But India is absolutely a strategic market for us and one of our most important markets in Asia. Our goal is to gradually rebuild travel from India and return to the levels we saw before COVID, when Israel welcomed around 65,100 Indian visitors a year. We see real potential to get back to those numbers and grow beyond them.

At the same time, we work very closely with the Indian travel industry- travel agents, tour operators, airlines and media- and we are also planning dedicated activities and campaigns for the Indian audience. For us, it is not only about bringing the numbers back; it is also about showing Indian travellers that there is so much more to Israel than what they may already know.

2. What makes Israel such an interesting choice for Indian travellers compared to other international destinations?

For me, one of the most exciting things about Israel is that it is almost impossible to put it into one category. It is history and innovation, spirituality and nightlife, desert and sea, food and wine, nature, and adventure- and everything is incredibly close.

You can start your morning in Jerusalem, walking through streets that are thousands of years old and markets full of colours, flavours, and aromas, and that same evening be sitting by the beach in Tel Aviv, having a great dinner, and heading out for drinks. The next day you could be tasting wine at a vineyard, hiking in the desert, floating in the Dead Sea, or diving among coral reefs in Eilat. It is a small country, but the number of experiences you can fit into one holiday is almost unbelievable.

And there is another thing that I think Indian travellers feel very quickly- the human connection. Indians and Israelis are quite similar in many ways. We are warm, direct, family-oriented, we love food, we love talking, and neither of us is particularly good at being formal nor distant! Indian visitors tell us repeatedly how welcome they feel in Israel and how warmly they are received.

Food is another easy connection. Israeli cuisine is incredibly diverse, and excellent vegetarian and vegan food is available almost everywhere, so Indian travellers can feel very comfortable on that front as well.

3. Israel is strongly associated with faith and pilgrimage tourism. What would you like Indian travellers to discover beyond that?

First, I think it is important to put this into perspective. Faith tourism has always been a very important segment for us in India, but it has never been the whole story. Even before COVID, we were seeing significant travel from leisure travellers and MICE groups as well.

At the same time, of course, Israel is called the Holy Land for a reason. For a Christian traveller, visiting Israel is very difficult to compare with visiting any other destination. You are not simply reading the stories- you are standing in the places where they happened. In that sense, the journey really does bring the Bible to life, turning faith and history into something very tangible and deeply personal.

But what I find exciting is that the experience does not have to end there. You can come to Israel for a spiritual journey and, on the same trip, enjoy food, nature, the sea, culture, museums, wineries, markets, and vibrant city life.

I love that combination. You can begin your day somewhere of profound religious significance in Jerusalem or the Galilee and end it over dinner by the sea. It doesn’t take away from the spiritual experience- if anything, it makes the journey richer, more personal, and more complete.

4. How is Israel positioning itself as a leisure destination, and what can a first-time Indian traveller expect?

What often surprises first-time visitors the most is just how incredibly diverse Israel really is. In one small country, you can see snow in the north during winter, head south into the desert, float in the Dead Sea, spend time on a Mediterranean beach, dive in the Red Sea and hike through nature reserves- without spending half your holiday on domestic flights or endless road journeys. We enjoy pleasant weather for much of the year, distances are relatively short, and the infrastructure makes it easy to move between very different parts of the country. So, you can have a very dynamic holiday without it becoming exhausting.

And for me, that is really the beauty of it: you don’t have to choose between a city break, nature, wellness, food, or adventure. You can have a little bit of everything.

I always tell first-time visitors to leave some space in the itinerary for things they didn’t plan. Walk into a market because something smells amazing, stop at a winery you notice along the way, sit in a little café in Jaffa or simply stay another hour at the beach. Very often, the best memories of Israel are made exactly that way.

5. What is today’s Indian traveller looking for when planning a holiday, and how does Israel fit into that?

Today’s Indian traveller is much more experienced and much more curious. They don’t necessarily want to simply tick famous attractions off a list anymore. They are looking for an experience- somewhere that feels different, has a story, great food, things they will want to share with friends afterwards, and hopefully a few surprises along the way.

We are seeing growing interest in leisure destinations that are easy to travel around and offer experiences that are a little less predictable and more offbeat.

That is where Israel becomes interesting, because you can build the trip in so many ways. It can be an urban weekend in Tel Aviv, a food-focused trip, a wellness break at the Dead Sea, a wine route, a nature and adventure holiday, a family trip- or a combination of all of them.

And there is another advantage that fits very well with the way Indians like to travel: you don’t have to choose one experience for an entire week. Distances are short, so you can change the pace, landscape, and atmosphere almost every day.

6. Which experiences would you particularly recommend to an Indian traveller who wants to discover a less expected side of Israel?

I would say: don’t build the entire trip around a “must-see” list. Add a few experiences that you might not necessarily find on the first page of a travel guide.

In Tel Aviv, for example, don’t stop at the beach. Walk through Jaffa, browse the flea market, eat your way through Carmel Market, check what is happening in the city that week- maybe a food festival, a concert, a cultural event or Fashion Week– and then stay into the evening and discover a completely different side of the city.

In Jerusalem, beyond the Old City, there is a fantastic contemporary cultural scene, wonderful museums, great food, and events such as the Jerusalem Film Festival, which creates an amazing atmosphere across the city. If innovation interests you, visit the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and discover another side of Israel altogether- technology, creativity, and entrepreneurship. At the Dead Sea, I wouldn’t settle for taking a photo from the viewpoint. You have to actually get into the water and experience that strange and funny feeling of floating without doing anything, try the mineral-rich mud, and if you happen to visit at the right time, you can even experience the Dead Sea Marathon– one of the most unique running experiences imaginable, at the lowest place on Earth. In Mitzpe Ramon, you can sleep in the desert, look up at an incredible sky full of stars, explore the Ramon Crater and even visit an alpaca farm– probably not something most people expect to find in Israel. In Eilat, you can dive or snorkel among the coral reefs and, if you want something a little different, even swim with dolphins.

And in winter, you can head north to Mount Hermon and ski- and then, just a few days later, find yourself enjoying the sunshine in the desert.

That, for me, is the story of Israel: not just another place to see, but a collection of completely different experiences, all surprisingly close to one another- and very often, not at all what you expected.