以色列大力发展中国旅游市场

The Israeli government, still reeling from a drop-off invisitors following last summer’s war with Gaza, isbetting on China to jump-start the nation’s flaggingtourism industry.

去年夏天加沙地带的战争导致前往以色列的游客人数骤减，至今仍未恢复，以色列政府现在把赌注押在中国身上，试图启动该国萎靡不振的旅游业。

While visits to Israel from the United States and Europe have plummeted by almost 20 percentsince the conflict, Chinese tourism is up by 30 percent, because of a flurry of investments bythe Israeli Tourism Ministry to make Chinese visitors feel welcome.

自去年夏天的冲突以来，前往以色列的欧美游客骤减了20%，但中国旅客增加了30%，因为以色列旅游部为招揽他们进行了一系列投资。

In January, the Tourism Ministry opened a Chinese-language course for its licensed guides andannounced that it was in talks with Hainan Airlines, the largest privately owned Chinese aircarrier, to begin three nonstop flights a week between Beijing and Tel Aviv. Israel’s El Al airlinescurrently has a monopoly on Beijing-Tel Aviv flights, so an agreement with Hainan Airlines,which Israel hopes to finalize by the end of 2015, will bring price competition to the route.

今年1月，旅游部为持牌导游开设了中国语言课程，并宣布它正在与中国最大的私营航空公司海南航空磋商，每周在北京和特拉维夫之间开设三个直飞航班。目前北京到特拉维夫的航班由以色列艾拉航空公司(El Al)垄断，所以如果与海南航空达成协议，就会给这条航线引入价格竞争机制。以色列希望与海南航空在2015年底敲定这项协议。

The ministry is also wooing Chinese celebrities to its shores — in 2014, the Chinese blockbuster“Old Cinderella filmed a number of scenes in Israel after receiving a 500,000-shekel investment(about $135,600) from the Israeli government, and the Chinese actor Liu Ye was hosted by theTourism Ministry and deemed a Tourism Good Will Ambassador.

旅游部还邀请中国名人前往以色列海滨——2014年，中国大片《脱轨时代》得到了以色列政府的50万谢克尔(约80万人民币)投资，在以色列取景拍摄，旅游部还款待了中国演员刘烨，让其担任旅游亲善大使。

The private tourism sector is also angling for Chinese visitors: This month the DavidInterContinental Tel Aviv hotel will become the first in Israel to offer Mandarin-speaking staffers,two Mandarin-language TV channels in guest rooms and Chinese food options at their lushbreakfast buffet.

私营旅游部门也在积极争取中国游客：本月，特拉维夫大卫洲际酒店(David Inter Continental Tel Aviv)将成为以色列第一家提供普通话工作人员的酒店，客房里拥有两个普通话电视频道，丰盛的自助早餐中包含中国食品。

Israel’s tourism minister, Yariv Levin, said that he is working to ease visa requirements forincoming tourists from China and to build partnerships with Chinese tour operators.

以色列旅游部长雅里夫·莱文(Yariv Levin)说，他正在设法放宽对中国游客的签证要求，并与中国旅游运营商建立合作伙伴关系。

“The State of Israel attaches great importance to incoming tourism from China, and as a result,the Tourism Ministry intends to place special emphasis on China as a developing market, hesaid.

“以色列国十分看重来自中国的旅游业务，因此，旅游部打算把中国作为一个发展中市场予以特别重视，他说。