With Holy Week fast approaching, Filipinos all over the country are making plans to visit their most cherished pilgrimage routes and sites. To help strengthen their faith and to make traveling during the summer more meaningful, Filipinos can consider a journey to the Holy Land, Israel.
Thanks to the Embassy of Israel in Manila and travel authority Asia Tours, the Philippines and Israel can begin to enjoy a renewed partnership founded on a mutual interesest in supporting each other’s tourism industries.
In an event held at Makati Shangri-La Manila’s Grand Ballroom, 400 guests including Sen. Cynthia Villar, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon, Israel Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Itamar Gero, Philippine Airlines president Jaime Bautista, Turkish Airlines country manager Erhan Balaban and Cathay Pacific country manager Robin Bradshaw, as well as hundreds of travel agents, special friends from the Filipino consular corps and business sector enjoyed an evening that was “an open invitation to all Filipinos to enjoy Israel’s diversity.”
The event was a celebration for Israel that’s grown to become a leading tourist destination that boasts a 42 percent growth in tourist arrivals from last year, with 27 percent of those tourists being Filipinos.
Dubbed as “the land of creation and creativity,” Israel is definitely growing to become a must-see destination for Filipinos. The country is, after all, home to one of the greatest stories every told and marries two interests that Filipinos hold dear to their hearts — religious devotion, and traveling to see the world.
To see what Israel has in store for you, check out this video featuring some of the country’s most beautiful sites to see.
(Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau)
(Asia Tours president and CEO Mano Alemi)
(Tourism undersecretary Falconi Millar)
(Gary Valenciano delights guests for the evening)
(Rose Fostanes, X-Factor Israel 2014 winner impresses the crowd with her voice)
(Europop 2015 winner Ryan Tamondong adds to the festivities)
(Singer Nicole Laurel Asensio shares her talents)
(Asia Tours’ Solange Kaufman, TraveLife magazine’s Michelle Barrera and Mano Alemi)
(Cory Quirino, Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau, Fortune and Rene Ledesma with Teresa Chan)
(Architects Felino, Jr. and Karmi Palafox, Felix Ang, Irene and George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
(Helen Ong, Becky Garcia, Connie Garcia, Senator Cynthia Villar, Evie Costa, Alice Tesoro-Guerrero and Ambassador Victor Garcia III)
(Steve Mirpuri, Gigi Sarmienta, Ferdie and Kit Lazarte, Kata Inocencio and Mari Kaimo)
(Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau with Marnely and Joseph Calata and Sen. Cynthia Villar)
(Filipino performers dance Israeli folk dance)
(Tourism Undersecretary Falconi Millar, Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau and Philippine Airlines president Jamie Bautista)
(Ambassador Effie with Rabbi Eliyahu and Miriam Azaria)
Cathay Pacific country manager Robin Bradshaw, Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau and Israel Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Itamar Gero)
(Chairman and CEO of Century Properties Ambassador Jose Antonio and wife Hilda, Grace Glory Go, Lizia Lu, Fortune Ledesma and Turkish Airlines country manager Erhan Balaban)
