COVID-19 gives Israel's rural tourism a golden opportunity - opinion

“My husband Haim and I opened our farm in Moshav Netiv HaGdud in the Jordan Valley in 1981. We grow grapes, figs, dates, and more. Eight years ago, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture, we opened a visitors’ center on the site, because we had the impression that groups of visitors to the area wanted to meet farmers and to get an idea of what they were growing and cultivating. I give them a tour of the moshav, around the orchards and vineyards. At the visitors’ center we focus on the process of extracting oil from the argan tree, including an explanation on the beneficial properties of this oil. We have three employees working in the tourism side of the business, and others who work on the other branches of the farm—all of them from the area. Our sons and daughters also work with us, even though some of them don’t live in the moshav anymore.

“When the coronavirus arrived, the visitors’ center went quiet, and exports abroad also ended abruptly. Luckily for us, the ‘farmers’ saviors’ came to our rescue—those people who volunteered to help distribute produce through purchasing groups around the country. At the same time, the bank offered to revive a long-held dream of mine; opening guest units. The rural tourism sector has developed hugely in the Jordan Valley, and it has become clear that when people come travelling in the area, they want to stay overnight, because vacations abroad have been closed off to them. So two months ago we finished building five guest units, and the market is learning to recognize us and to appreciate what we have to offer.

“We recently started to work with a company that is conducting research into the properties of the milk extracted from figs (known as latex), that doctors in the United Kingdom have discovered is effective against bowel cancer. At the same time, we reduced our agricultural space in order to focus on hosting groups, on the argan oil and on hiring out the visitors’ center for events. The pandemic taught me the importance of seizing control of your own destiny—not letting yourself be consumed by melancholy over things you cannot control. In my case, I had a window of opportunity and time to realize my ambition of opening guest units, which is something I could only have dreamt of doing at any other time.”

“I set up the RV rental business with my wife, Galit, in 2014, after I retired from the police force. Today our children have started working with us too, and it’s become a family business. We started with two travel trailers, and today we have a fleet of 24-30. We work around the country, but mostly on Gofra Beach and on the beaches and campsites around the Sea of Galilee, such as the Jordan Park and Golan Beach. All our clients need to do is show up and relax, because we take care of everything in advance—towing the RVs to the location, connecting them to water and electricity, setting up a canopy, tables, chairs, sheets, pillows and more. We also rent RVs to artists and support staff at festivals in the countryside.

“For us the big shock came during the first lockdown, when we received a wave of cancellations during the week of Passover. On the other hand, when the restrictions began to ease off, it became clear that we had a significant advantage in the market, because every RV is actually a bubble for a family. Everyone sleeps in the same space, which is an experience you won’t get in a hotel. Also, we received a lot of bookings for RVs from farmers and farm owners whose workers needed to quarantine but also had to keep working, because somewhere like a cowshed, for example, the work cannot simply stop. I offered them this service at-cost, because it was such an unusual and challenging time.

“Throughout the entire period, we didn’t furlough a single worker—we bore all the burden of the expenses ourselves and we did so willingly. It was not easy, because at the start of the pandemic our income went down to zero, while we still had expenses on insurance, loans, maintenance of campsites and RVs etc. I also made a point of not charging anyone for cancellations throughout the period. I have always said that income is a blessing from above, and that these things balance out in the end—and that is what happened. Almost all the people who cancelled came back to us, most of them more than once, and some even recommended us to friends. Part of that, in my opinion, is because we didn’t charge them a cent for cancellations.”

“The breakout of COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions to our ability to travel abroad have hugely increased demand for vacations in Israel. It is important that those in the rural tourism sector recognize the golden opportunity to introduce themselves to new audiences. Every business wants loyal returning customers, and today that is more important than ever. That means it is important for owners of guest units to look beyond the short term and to take steps that will make clients want to come back again and again.

For Oren Farm, I would recommend updating the visitors’ center website to include information on the new guest units and vice versa. Clients want to see a combined package of accommodation and attractions. The promotional video is excellent, and the Google reviews are up to date and positive. Wellbeing is a very popular trend at the moment, and their model is perfectly placed to capture this rising demand among consumers for healthy eating. The RV rental business also meets an existing need for families looking for quiet vacations and for something a bit different and special. I would recommend updating the visual aspect of the website, to incorporate more images, and to open an Instagram profile.”

“The tourism industry was among the hardest-hit by the pandemic. At the same time, concerns over international travel and restrictions on those returning from abroad have created a situation where international tourism has dwindled significantly while demand for domestic tourism has spiked.  This new situation can be seized as an opportunity for the local tourism industry to reach new audiences who would otherwise have chosen to go abroad, and to provide them with an attractive and comprehensive package. Through this, the goal is to introduce people to new parts of the country that they would otherwise never have discovered or considered as travel destinations.

“The pandemic forced business owners to chart a new course and to understand that they would have to adapt to the new circumstances. In the tourism industry, for example, guest units and other accommodation providers offered spaces for people in quarantine, thereby generating a measure of income during this period. Many business owners recognized the opportunity in the new situation and managed to use it to leverage their business. That, together with proper financial management, careful cash flow management and working closely with their banker lifted businesses to a situation where they even emerged stronger from the pandemic.”