Mediterranean Observer
In the coming days, the Israel Ministry of Tourism will begin providing free tours throughout Israel for new immigrants, guided in Russian by licensed tour guides. This unique project, which is financed by the Tourism Ministry, incorporates everything that the immigrants fleeing the war in Ukraine would need.
This includes the guidance and transportation from approximately 20 hotels in which the new immigrants and those eligible under the Law of Return are staying until housing solutions can be found. More than 160 Russian-speaking guides have registered to participate in this project, and the Ministry of Tourism intends to operate these tours for as long as needed.
This is part of the Ministry of Tourism’s contribution to the national effort to facilitate the integration of recently arrived new immigrants from areas of conflict and aims to answer their needs to acquaint themselves with their new country.
The tours include Israel Nature Parks and Authority sites around the country, and there is already great interest in the project from the new immigrants themselves. Any new immigrants living in other accommodations are also eligible to participate in the free tours and should register by sending an email with their contact details to valeriiaM@tourism.gov.il.
Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov: “The new immigrants who have recently arrived in Israel from the areas of conflict are going through a difficult period. Therefore, if we have the ability to provide them with a positive experience and to acquaint them with our beautiful country, then that’s a blessing. As someone who made Aliyah to Israel, I know how challenging that first period in a new, unfamiliar country can be, and how much you yearn for activities in a language you understand. This is what we can provide. During the pandemic, the tourism industry was the first to close and the last to open, but now, when people are in genuine distress, the industry is immediately coming together to offer a helping hand to the new immigrants.”
