ABSTRACT
The growth of Israel's tourism industry has been subject to frequent interruptions due to outbreaks of external threats and internal inter-communal violence. Christian or Muslim, it gave Israel the opportunity to promote an impressive presence of a faith which contrasted with the stereotypical image of Israel. A portion of the Jewish market (approximately 40-50 per cent) are 'visiting friends and relatives' travellers, but most of the remainder travel to Israel either as tourists or participants in a wide range of Jewish-orientated tour programs. When the Israeli tourism industry is examined, attractions, tour operators, hoteliers, resort operators, restaurants, car rental firms, coach companies and airlines all faced a common problem in seeking to stimulate demand in a market affected by a common crisis. The Israeli case study reveals the problems associated with seeking to implement a destination marketing strategy during a crisis of indeterminate duration.
