Press releases

MINSK, 10 February (BelTA) – Hunting, nostalgic tourism, health and wellness tourism will be most interesting for travelers from Israel to Belarus, Belarus’ Deputy Sport and Tourism Minister Mikhail Portnoy told BelTA.

"Residents of Israel also show interest in ecological and religious tourism. We hope that in 2016 we will see more tourists from Israel, especially since the visa regime between the two countries has been abolished,” Mikhail Portnoy said.

The deputy minister considers it essential that different regions of Belarus presented their tourist services at an expo that is running in Tel Aviv these days. "On the first day we already reached preliminary agreements on cooperation with Israeli counterparts," he added.

The Belarusian delegation led by Mikhail Portnoy is in Israel on 8-11 February. The Belarusian representatives held a wide-ranging presentation of the country’s tourism potential at the international Mediterranean tourism expo in Tel Aviv. This year's presentation of Belarus featured the National Tourism Agency, the National Park Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the health and wellness center Lesnoye and travel agencies.

According to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Israel Vladimir Skvortsov, tourist exchange between the two countries has been very active in recent years but the volume is still from the existing potential.

"Israel for Belarusians and Belarus for the Israelis are close countries largely by virtue of numerous historical and interpersonal ties. We are interesting to each other thanks to the differences in climate, natural conditions, and geographical locations. Israel attracts by its centuries-old history, holy places associated with three world religions, and also beach holidays. For Israelis with roots in Belarus our country remains motherland where they have relatives, friends, and former co-workers. In Belarus there are a number of places of Jewish religious and spiritual heritage,” the diplomat stressed

"I believe that a visa-free regime will play a catalytic role in the development of bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector. Once Israel abolished visa requirements with Russia and Ukraine, the annual exchanges between the countries increased twice to three times. However, much depends on travel agencies, their enterprise and creativity,” Vladimir Skvortsov said.