Tourism Ministry launches N. American marketing campaign

North America is the latest marketing target of the Tourism Ministry, which said Monday it will spend $11 million to attract more visitors from the continent to Israel. The campaign, which is a result of last year's Ernst & Young assessment on how to boost tourism to the country, features both print and television advertisements aimed at the Christian community and so called "sophisticated travelers." The ministry also has initiated partnerships with various airlines and travel booking sites Travelocity.com and Orbitz.com as part of the plan. Of the $11m. allocation, which is about one-fifth of the annual $50m. total budgeted for tourism campaigns, approximately 38%, or $4.158m. has been set aside to fund television ads directed at the two markets. The television ad geared towards the "Sophisticated Traveler" includes visual comparisons of ancient and new, serious and fun, and uses the tagline: "Israel, who knew?" Both the television and print spots aimed at the Christian market feature American Christian clergy, and other public figures encouraging people to explore the land of the bible and use the catch phrase: "You'll never be the same." What is left of the $11m. budget will go to print and on-line advertising. The ministry has already revamped its Web site, which now includes the capability to search and price a trip to Israel, while the trip planner suggests the months of June-July, and September-November as ideal for travel. The ministry hopes the marketing efforts will direct prospective tourists to its new site, goisrael.com/bestdeals, and thus aid in its quest to double tourism to Israel by 2011.