Israel Ministry of Tourism has announced the appointment of Mr. Sammy Yahia, as the new Director of Tourism for India &Philippines markets effective from 3rd June 2019. He will be responsible to lead the tourism board’s initiatives in India while overseeing the development of policies and strategies to strengthen Israel’s reputation as a world-class tourism and travel destination.
A champion marketer by profession, prior to his appointment to India, Sammy was the Director of Marketing &Communications for Israel Ministry of Tourism from 2012 to May 2019. During his tenure there, he was awarded ‘Employee of the Year – Civil Service Commission’ and a certificate of appreciation from the Minister of Tourism and the Director General for his valuable contributions.
The new Director brings great expertise and know-how to the role with an extensive and holistic experience in tourism marketing, strategic government relations, and investment facilitation. He will be instrumental in integrating the ideologies of the Israel travel industry with the Indian market to facilitate effective marketing strategies for the destination in India. Being at the helm, Mr. Sammy Yahia will help maximize all opportunities to achieve continued growth in tourist arrivals from India.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Sammy Yahia said, “I am delighted and look forward to working closely with various partners in India by building on existing partnerships alongside initiating new ones. India has a rich heritage, culture, and history, similar to Israel, and is an exciting market for me to take charge of. I foresee ample opportunities for us to push boundaries and reinvent the ever-evolving and dynamic Indian traveler.”
While talking about his vision for the India office, he added, “The arrivals from India have amassed expectations in the last few years to present some record-breaking numbers. While keeping the current momentum going, the goal is to place India as one of the top global source markets for Israel. Besides the metropolitan cities, continuing to capture Tier II cities would be the strategy to lure travelers to consider Israel for a leisure holiday offering dynamic experiences catering to varied interests. Having said this, our office will aggressively work towards increasing connectivity between India & Israel by introducing new airlines to service the route”.
With the appointment of a new Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism hopes to surpass their achievements of last year – a whopping 21% increase in Indian tourist arrivals elevating India to the 12th position among top source markets for Israel worldwide.
Tourism India, India’s Travel & Tourism Magazine.
