Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Voted Best By Readers of Travel + Leisure Magazine

According to the prestigious New York-based Travel+Leisure Magazine, Jerusalem is ranked as the best city in Africa and the Middle East – and Tel Aviv is ranked number three.

In an annual readers poll published last week, the capital was ranked number one in the category Best Cities in Africa and the Middle East (after ranking third in 2009), while Tel Aviv moved up from seventh place in 2009 to take third place (after Cape Town).

Readers ranked the cities on characteristics such as sights, culture/arts, restaurants/food, people, shopping and value.

Jerusalem attracts over two million tourists a year, with about 80% of all tourists visiting the holy city. The city also contains within it the most visited sites in Israel, including the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Via Dolorosa, Yad Vashem and the Mount of Olives. Tel Aviv is the second most visited city in Israel, with about 60% of all tourists visiting the “White City”, so-called for its unique collection of International (Bauhaus) buildings which received UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2003, and enjoying the entertainment and leisure options of the “city that never sleeps”.

Vote for the Dead Sea in the Finals of the New 7 Wonders of Nature Competition!

Vote for the Dead Sea in the Finals of the New 7 Wonders of Nature Competition!

The Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth and one of Israel’s most popular tourist sites, is one of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature, an international online competition to grade the seven natural wonders of the world
(http://www.new7wonders.com)to/ To reach the final shortlist, this unique tourism site had to beat off about 440 sites from 220 countries (more than the number of countries competing in the Olympics).


The lowest place on earth will compete through 2011 for the hearts and votes of over a billion people from around the world, against 27 other sites including, among others, the River Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, the Grand Canyon and the Maldives.


It is hoped that the candidacy of the Dead Sea in the competition will promote tourism to the region and raise public awareness around the world of the problems facing the sea, which has lost about one meter in height every year for the past 30 years.


Over the next 2 years, the Tourism Ministry will lead the campaign for the Dead Sea to be selected as one of the winners in the contest, via its 14 representative offices around the world, its websites in 11 languages and focused marketing activities that emphasize the unique attributes of the Dead Sea.



Voting can take place directly at the competition website:

http://www.new7wonders.com/


At over 400 meters below sea level and with luxury hotels in the Ein Bokek area, the Dead Sea is known as the lowest and largest natural health spa in the world. This natural phenomenon offers tourists and health-seekers black Dead Sea mud and thermo-mineral hot springs which ease muscular tensions, improve blood circulation and alleviate rheumatic pain; desert-dry, pollution and pollen-free air that is rich in oxygen, bromine and magnesium and offers relief to those suffering from asthma, lung and heart diseases and year-round sunshine, whose harmful UVB rays are filtered through the extra layers of atmosphere offering relief to those suffering from skin diseases – as well as tourists looking to get a safer tan.



Tourist attractions in the area, among others, include the Roman fortress at Masada, the Ein Gedi and Einot Tzukim nature reserves and Qumran, home to the Essenes sect and the area where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

Images of a Shuk--Spice Vendors

Colorful spices are always a beautiful site to see in a visit to the shuk. Our tours to Israel, include visits to historic local shuks, such as the Mahane Yehuda Shuk in Jerusalem.