GETTING READY TO WELCOME POPE FRANCIS
THE TOURISM MINISTRY EXPECTS A 10% INCREASE IN CHRISTIAN TOURISM AS A RESULT OF THE VISIT
VENEZUELAN PILGRIM WINS FREE VISIT TO ISRAEL THIS WEEK IN A TOURISM MINISTRY INSTAGRAM COMPETITION THAT GARNERED 34 MILLION BANNER VIEWS.
Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau: „We welcome the Pope as a visitor of the highest importance, the most important religious leader Catholics around the world. We are greatly honored by his choice to visit Israel. We will continue to welcome the faithful with open arms, as they choose to visit Israel in the footsteps of the Pope.”
The Israel Ministry of Tourism is investing approximately NIS 10 million in marketing initiatives and infrastructure projects before, during and after the visit of Pope Francis to Israel, 25-26 May. This, in addition to the significant resources the ministry invests in conserving and preserving the holy sites in Israel and ensuring freedom of worship for all believers.
The marketing investment is centered around the dedicated website for the Catholic Pilgrim (www.holyland-pilgrimage.org), including live streaming of the visit and utilization of the most advanced online marketing tools, both on the web and on the various social media platforms. The marketing emphasis is being placed on target source countries for Catholic pilgrimage – USA, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Poland, France and Germany.
The Tourism Ministry ran an online Instagram promotion in advance of the Papal visit that garnered over 50,000 clicks and 34 million banner views around the world during March and April. The winner of the competition, a 22 year old Venezuelan, Gustavo Adolfo Franco Picaza will visit Israel later this week as a guest of the Israel Tourism Ministry. In the competition, contestants were asked to log into Instagram, upload a 15-second video telling the Ministry of Tourism why they wanted to visit the Holy Land, tag the video #popeintheholyland. The contestants were then asked to request their friends to like their video on Instagram and the Ministry of Tourism’s app which had been prepared in 6 languages. See the winning Instagram video message: instagram.com/p/mlGuwHQsYh/
The ministry will offer full hosting to tens of journalists from around the world during the visit and will also be involved in offering support services and press tours to the estimated hundreds of journalists who will arrive in Israel to cover the Papal visit.
The Tourism Ministry, which invests in the maintenance and conservation of Christian sites on an ongoing basis, has invested tens of millions of shekel in recent years in the development and infrastructure of Christian sites, including, among others, the Yardenit baptism site on the River Jordan, the Sea of Galilee trail and promenade, Mount of Olives, Via Dolorosa, Ein Karem and pilgrimage routes in Jerusalem, Nazareth and more. Improvements and upgrading in the area of Rachel’s Crossing and at the Room of the Last Supper that had been planned for later in the year have been carried out in advance of the Pope’s visit.
As a result of the visit to the Holy Land by Pope Francis, who is such a popular figure and significant leader for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, the ministry estimates an increase of tens of thousands in the numbers of Christians visiting Israel. Christian tourism, which accounts for about 60% of all incoming tourism, is expected to increase by about 10% in 2014.
