Israel touts new tourism campaign on FTV

Tourism Ministry announces launch of NIS 3 million advertising campaign on Fashion Channel.

By RON FRIEDMAN
Beautiful girl in river 311 (photo credit: Ofir Harel)
Beautiful girl in river 311
(photo credit: Ofir Harel)
The Tourism Ministry announced Wednesday that it had launched a NIS 3 million advertising campaign on the Fashion Channel (FTV).
The campaign, which highlights Israel as a destination for urban and beachside vacations, features images of good-looking young men and women with picturesque vistas in the background.
“This is a revolutionary breakthrough, highlighting Israel’s historical, cultural and religious sites and exposing Israel as an attractive tourism destination to new markets – FTV viewers who follow new trends and choose their leisure and vacation destinations accordingly,” Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov said.
According to the ministry spokeswoman, the four-month campaign, under the slogan “Israel, it’s like magic,” is designed to expose the Israeli tourism product to FTV viewers, which she described as a broad, quality market with the means to travel to Israel.
“The campaign on the international fashion channel [available in more than 200 countries] will allow for international exposure on an unprecedented scale, appealing to the general market which is interested in a vacation that includes entertainment and leisure alongside visits to historical sites, cultural activities, gourmet, wine and more,” the spokeswoman said.
The campaign includes a tourism image video and marketing clips that present Israel’s tourist sites and entertainment spots. In addition, a calendar will be distributed featuring 12 tourist sites, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Masada and the Dead Sea.
“The NIS 3m. campaign is part of the ministry’s overall NIS 230m. marketing campaign around the world, designed to increase Israel’s positive exposure as a tourism destination with many sites and places of interest,” the spokeswoman said.
“With the arrival earlier this week of Israel’s record-breaking 3,000,001st tourist and the declaration that 2010 will be an all-time high for incoming tourism, the successful intensive marketing efforts of the ministry will continue into the coming years, in accordance with the ministry’s target of 4 million tourists by 2012 and 5 million by 2015,” she added.
When asked how the new campaign fit in with the ministry’s central marketing theme of Israel as the Holy Land with Jerusalem at its center, and focusing on the country’s unique strengths as a center for history, culture and religion, the spokeswoman explained that while the central theme remained the same, the ministry was also interested in pursuing niche markets and that the FTV audience was one such market.
“Israel is interested in drawing a wide range of tourist types. We tailor different campaigns depending on who the target audience is,” she said.