Monday, December 28, 2009

Israel Government Reacts to Tiger Woods

From the Tourism Ministry:

28 December 2009

MASTER PLAN FOR GOLF TOURISM IN ISRAEL:
ISRAEL HAS AN INTEREST IN DEVELOPING GOLF TOURISM – INVESTMENT OF 760 MILLION NIS OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS WILL INJECT 3 BILLION NIS INTO THE ECONOMY.

TOURISM MINISTER STAS MISEZHNIKOV: "DEVELOPING GOLF TOURISM WILL DIVERSIFY THE TOURISM PRODUCT, ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT AND INCREASE ISRAEL'S ATTRACTIVENESS AS A PREFERRED TOURISM DESTINATION OVER OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION"

An overall investment of 760 million NIS over the next 15 years in establishing 16 golf courses of international standing will inject about 3 billion NIS at current prices into the Israeli economy, both directly and indirectly – this according to the master plan for golf tourism initiated and led by the Tourism Ministry in cooperation with the Israel Lands Administration. The plan, which was recently approved, also claims that the investment would double the average expenditure per tourist to $2000 and increase annual hotel occupancy in Israel by about 20% at the end of the investment process.

Over the coming months, the Tourism Ministry and Israel Lands Administration will implement a statutory and marketing feasibility plan for 3-5 potential golf course sites, followed by a detailed plan for 1-2 golf courses. The sites are located in the Eilat region, the coastal plain between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea, Tiberias and Hadera.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov: "Developing golf tourism will diversify the tourism product, encourage high value local and international investment from a tourism, commercial, employment and regional development viewpoint. In addition, tens of thousands of golf tourists will come to Israel annually and golf tourism will help Israel compete with other countries in the region including Egypt, Jordan and the Mediterranean basin countries, which have long been preferred golf tourism destinations."



Do you think they know anything about golf?

Maybe they should offer an extra feature: explode hidden mines with every stroke when you ball lands outside the green?


P.S.

That is an authentic press release I just received.

2 comments:

Daled Amos said...

Do you think they know anything about golf?

No, but I suppose it's...par for the course...

Suzanne Pomeranz said...

As a licensed Israeli tour guide who happened to receive the "golf gene" at birth, I very much appreciate the Israeli MOT's efforts at promoting Golf Tourism in Israel.

In fact, I hope to one day put together and guide a "Golfing Tour of the Middle East" to include not only Israel, but also Jordan, Turkey & Cyprus.

suzanne