Israel’s Tourism Minister, Stas Misezhnikov, was upbeat after his recent first official visit to Mumbai, India. The minister brought a delegation of tourism associations, hoteliers, and representatives from airlines to promote bilateral tourism relations between the two countries.

Last year Israel saw 40,000 Indian arrivals, “We hope this growth will continue. Tourism in Israel contributes about three per cent to the GDP but has offered as many as 100,000 new jobs at the same time,” the minister said.

He added that in the future they may consider opening a tourism office in India based in Mumbai. “If we manage to get the set up running soon, we may also consider increasing budgets and scale of promotions in India,” he added.