Gil Travel - Group Tours Worldwide

A poll published in Forbes magazine shows that Israelis feel a sense of well-being to a degree rivaled by few other peoples in the world. Only the Scandinavians, their senses perhaps distorted by seasonal extremes of daylight, have a more cheery self-perception.

The Gallup poll ranked 155 countries on their inhabitants’ sense of well-being, based on in-person and phone surveys. The in-depth poll was conducted between 2005 and 2009, and measured two types of well-being. First pollsters asked subjects to reflect on their overall satisfaction with their lives, and ranked their answers using a “life evaluation” score from 1 to 10. Then they asked questions about how each subject had felt the previous day. Those answers allowed researchers to score their “daily experiences”–things like whether they felt well-rested, respected, free of pain and intellectually engaged. Subjects who reported high scores were considered “thriving.”

The poll showed that 62 percent of Israelis believe that they’re “thriving” — tying the Jewish State with Australia, Canada, and Switzerland and well ahead of fellow human beings in the United States and the United Kingdom.

1 Denmark 82
2 Finland 75
3 Norway 69
4 Sweden 68
4 Netherlands 68
6 Costa Rica 63
6 New Zealand 63
8 Canada 62
8 Israel 62
8 Australia 62
8 Switzerland 62
12 Panama 58
12 Brazil 58
14 United States 57
14 Austria 57
16 Belgium 56
17 United Kingdom 54

More on the report in Forbes.

Guide on Israel has become one of Japan’s most popular travel books.
Are Japanese tourists making Israel their destination of choice? If Japan sales of a “tourist bible” on Israel are anything to go by, then the answer is yes.

In recent years, Israel has seen a marked increase in tourism from East Asia, including Japan, China and Korea. In 2008, some 135,000 visitors from East Asia arrived in Israel, an increase of 20 percent from the year before.

Recognizing this trend, the publishers of Japan’s largest travel guide added Israel to the popular Globetrotter series. The new guide book quickly climbed to second place on the company’s best-seller list of guide books by country.

Most Japanese tourists traveling independently view the Globetrotter series as the “tourist Bible” - using it for hotel and restaurant recommendations, and even for shopping in recommended stores.

As a result of the book’s success, a translation will be published in Korean by the end of the year.

Diversifying from the Jaffa orange, Israel’s export market is booming. From chips for Intel to underwear for the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Marks & Spencer and Calvin Klein, to a host of popular chains, the best of Israel is being appreciated across the globe. 

Read a great top 10 list of Israel Export Chains here: http://israel21c.org/201004017823/culture/gotta-think-global-israels-top-10-export-chains

Featured on the list are celebrity favs such as Laline, the beauty product chain, Castro, the international fashion brand and Aroma, Israel’s leading coffee chain.  Find one of these chains near you or take an Israel tour and see them first hand.

When it comes to security, Israel are undoubtedly amongst the world’s leaders, renowned for innovative, proactive solutions. As airports across the globe face criticism for reactive security measures (checking shoes of all passengers after a hijacking attempt was made), Israel shares their top 10 technologies to fight terror in this must-read article: http://israel21c.org/201003157781/technology/sraels-top-10-airport-security-technologies .

Most notable include the WeCU system and the Suspect Detection system, both of which blends high-tech with psychology to nab suspects, and to the relief of flyers everywhere, the MagShoe, which scans shoes without the need for them to be removed.

In addition the splendors of Egypt, there is now yet another reason to take a tour to Cairo. The historic Maimonides’ synagogue in the ancient Jewish quarter has been reopened after two years of restorations.

The synagogue, known in Egypt by its Arabic name of Musa bin Maymun, is named after the 12th century Jewish scholar, philosopher and physician. Maimonides was born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1135 and fled from persecution to Egypt where he died in 1204.

Read more here: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3859474,00.html

For more information on our guaranteed tours of Egypt and Jordan, call 800-223-3855.

Gil Travel recently organized a Christian Israel tour for a group of 130 pastors and their spouses led by General Bishop Charles Scott of the Pentecostal Church of God International.

The trip was part of the Eagles’ Wings “Watchmen on the Wall” program to educate the Christian community about supporting Israel. 

Gil Travel coordinated Israel travel plans for the group which included meeting with Israeli government officials, taking a tour of the country and presenting a prayer covenant to Knesset on behalf of the 4,700 Pentecostal Churches worldwide.

“This educational mission marked the Pentecostal Church’s first official solidarity mission to Israel and the first Christian Israel tour led by Bishop Scott,” reports Iris Hami, Vice-President of Gil Travel.  “Gil Travel was careful to ensure that every detail, from departure to return, was strategically arranged to provide a rewarding and memorable experience for the entire group.”

Gil Travel operates weekly guaranteed Christian Israel tours from Sunday to Sunday.  For more information about Holy Land tours, Jewish Heritage Travel, or Non-denominational tours of Egypt, Jordan and Europe, please call 1-800-223-3855 or visit http://www.giltravel.com.

It’s normal to see a few Chinese tour groups in airports or other tourist locations, but when we found out the Chinese Travel Service setting up this trip, we had to check it out. We found out, as anyone traveling to a foreign country, that this tour group had many questions about what kind of preparations they should make for their trip to Israel. They wanted to be in compliance with the culture they’re not used to and be respectful for the local’s and their own sake. Will all the shops be closed on the day of rest? Are there Chinese restaurants in Israel? Where can we buy a menorah? Should we not bring any snacks with pork?

(Image: Destination Israel)

All-in-all, this is really exciting for two cultures separated by continents to connect for a leisure, sight-seeing and history. This is only the beginning; the trip marks the first of many similar groups from China going to not only Israel but several other nations on the Chinese Travel Service’s approved list.

This also heads up a series of airports that link from Tel Aviv and other outgoing routes in Israel. New goals are being set with increased visitors found from both directions. This helps a great deal with GDPs and GNPs alike. It’s also greatly encouraging to see the amount of interest found in Israel, which goes a long way for welcoming visitors entering the country.

Many countries have strange traditions you should be aware of when around the globe. Remember that world travel can have its share of unscrupulous people. Take Great Britian for example.
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