Successful Presentation Held in Tel Aviv

At the IMTM Fair held in Tel Aviv, the Zagreb Tourist Board held a very successful press conference at the beginning of February, presenting the tourist potentials of the capital of Croatia to an audience of over a hundred journalists from the Israeli media and representatives of tourist agencies.

During the IMTM Fair which took place in Tel Aviv in early February, the Zagreb Tourist Board held a press conference and presented the tourist potentials of Zagreb to a very enthusiastic crowd of attendants. The press conference was attended by over a hundred representatives of the media and tourist agencies. Mrs. Amelija Tomašević, Ph.D. Director of the Zagreb Tourist Board and Mr. Ivan Delvechio, M.Sc., the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Israel, provided them with an overview of Zagreb’s history, its tourist attractions and points that Zagreb and the Jewish culture have in common. Mr. Jonatan Avron, the representative of the Croatian national airline Croatia Airlines in Israel, , and Rafael Carmon, General Director of the Zagreb Sheraton Hotel also participated in the conference. A warm welcome was extended to a special guest at the conference, Croatian football player Giovanni Rosso, currently on the team of the Israeli Macabi Haifa football club. He was the one who pulled the name of Israeli journalist, Tenenbaum Shumuel, from the lucky draw box. The lucky winner will spend a weekend in Zagreb.

One of the special features of the presentation was its focus on the links between the Jewish culture and Zagreb, a fact that gives rise to a number of interesting and attractive contents that may be offered to tourists from Israel. A reference was also made to the charter flights between Zagreb and Tel Aviv, and the icing on the cake was a short film about the capital of Croatia made by the Zagreb Tourist Board, with a special addition depicting the life of the Jews in Zagreb. A scene in the film showing Milan Bandić, the Mayor of Zagreb and Shmuel Meirom, the Israeli Ambassador in Croatia, lighting candles on the biggest Jewish holiday, Hanukah, met with a special approval by the audience.

Zagreb records increasing growth rates in the number of tourist arrivals from Israel. Last year, there were 57 per cent more guests than in 2006, and they accounted for 84 per cent more overnights.