Recommend December 2011 - (Page 78)

ISRAM takes it again rca Best Tour Operator, Middle East 15th annual tour operators winner carla hunt FOR AWARDS PIECES rca 15th annual readers’ choice awards winner “We appreciate this ongoing vote of conﬁdence from our one and only distribution partners: travel agents. Together we share and serve a 30 percent repeat-client market for whom we design memorable vacations in many corners of the globe.” Ady Gelber, CEO, IsramWorld full-scale vacations in Israel, as well as Israel plus Jordan. “We have a varied product for the ﬁrst- or second-time visitor to Israel, and this year there’s been an uptick in one-stop Israel vacations.” And why not, for as Gelber points out, the quality of the visitor attractions, services and products in Israel is top-of-the-line. “Our guides are like those in no other country—they are carefully selected, well-trained, and have that extra dimension of wanting to be ambassadors for their country.” And those guides have several new attractions to show visitors next year: the newly reopened Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the new wing on the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and Israel’s ﬁrst architecture museum in Haifa. And, Gelber adds, “Hotels in Israel nowadays are more than up to European standards,” with The Ritz-Carlton, Herzliya, for instance, debuting in 2012 on Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean coast. “Our bookings this year and next for Israel are solid,” says IsramWorld’s CEO, “and the nonstop demand is for customized, upscale vacations, as presented in our Elite Travel Collection.” Featured are perfectly-paced itineraries, the ﬁnest rooms in the ﬁnest hotels, luxury chauffeur-driven limousines available virtually 24/7, and a professional escort-guide to insure smooth service and help to make adjustments to suit client moods. Customized, of course, and very strong, according to Gelber, is Isram’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah business, and the company’s special destination expert touch has been applied to its 9-night A Woman’s View...Israel tour program, visiting Jerusalem, Dead Sea, Galilee and Tel Aviv. Operating May to December and priced from $3,595 pp dbl, the tour features deluxe hotels plus a kibbutz guesthouse stay, 17 meals, seven full sightseeing days, and a professional directress, on board to help deliver the vacation of a lifetime. l contact information Isram: (800) 223-7460; isram.com recommend.com R The 9-night A Woman’s View...Israel program visits the Dead Sea. Roots for IsramWorld are in the Middle East, where Israel was ﬁrst stop in 1967 for the newly established tour company. Then right after the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1979, IsramWorld was the ﬁrst mainstream U.S. tour operator to enter the Egypt market. After 44 years in this somewhat chaotic corner of the world, destination expertise and experience paid off once again last January when the “Arab Spring” took to the streets of Cairo, where having its own operations ofﬁce was key to ensuring passenger well-being and security on the ground and getting everyone home expeditiously and safely. Customer service for clients under all vacation circumstances is undoubtedly a major reason that, for the ﬁfth year in a row, Isram—whose umbrella company is IsramWorld—is the Readers’ Choice Awards winner for Best Tour Operator, Middle East. “We appreciate this ongoing vote of conﬁdence from our one and only distribution partners: travel agents,” says Ady Gelber, CEO of IsramWorld. “Together we share and serve a 30 percent repeat-client market for whom we design memorable vacations in many corners of the globe.” In the Middle East right now, Gelber notes that “tourism to Egypt is just plain ﬂat, although without doubt, we have bookings for travelers capitalizing on a history-in-the-making experience, as well as crowdsfree access to many of the monumental places that make Egypt a mustvisit destination.” Gelber also says that earlier this year, many bookings for Egypt only or that combined Egypt and Israel, were converted to 78 december 2011 http://8002237460 http://www.isram.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend December 2011

Sabre Travel Network
Rail Europe & Hertz Rental Car
Southwest Airlines & Delta Air Lines
Florida
Hawaii
France & Italy
Tahiti
Thailand
China
Cancun
Riviera Maya
Costa Rica
Jamaica
Aruba Certified Expert Specialist Program
Saint Lucia
South Africa
Israel
Isram
Abercrombie & Kent
Globus
Goway Travel
Travel Impressions
Avanti Destinations
GOGO Worldwide Vacations
Apple Vacations
Tauck
Marriott International
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts
Sandals & Beaches Resorts
AMResorts
Best Western International
Cruising to the Top

Recommend December 2011