Policy change of entering Israel from abroad, and granting an exemption from isolation led to an increase in traveling abroad

Policy change by senior Ministry of Health officials of entering Israel from abroad, and granting an exemption from isolation for the third-degree vaccinated returning from orange countries, has led to an increase in interest in traveling abroad. Travel agents reported that they were inundated with hundreds of inquiries from Israelis seeking to find out flight prices and details about the various countries.
"Less than five minutes from the moment of the announcement, we saw many visits to the site, and even the beginning of an increase in bookings. There is a great thirst for flights," says Ziv Rosen, CEO of Gulliver. The leading destinations are the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, USA, Western Europe and Thailand.
Ronen Carasso, CEO of Ista Holidays, added that “there has been a lot of interest and many invitations in the last hour. "I suppose we will have more tangible data tomorrow, but I estimate that the gates of heaven will open and there will be a lot of invitations for the coming holidays."
According to the new guidelines of the Ministry of Health, starting this Friday, September 3, vaccinated people who have not passed half a year from the date of receipt of the second dose will not be required in full isolation. at least. All of these will be required for isolation on their return from orange states until a negative response is received or up to 24 hours (whichever is earlier). However, it is still forbidden to fly to red countries that are defined as the highest level of risk.
"The Ministry of Health has finally made a decision that allows people to live and go on vacation despite the corona, and does not lock only Israelis in the country," says Ronen Maguliver. "Of course it is important to maintain guidelines, restrictions and especially enforcement so that we can all go back to making a living. It is also clear to us that the key to getting the economy of the tourism industry back on track is required to bring in a maximum percentage of vaccinators."
Recently, there has been harsh criticism from the aviation industry of the government countries that tightened the restrictions and only less than a month ago expanded the imposition of isolation restrictions on vaccinated passengers returning to Israel from 18 major countries.
The industry has argued that the state is managing the crisis in a non-serious way that makes it difficult for them to function. Arkia chairman and CEO Gadi Tepper said that "imposing a sanction of isolation on all passengers would put us in a situation where customers become criminals in a forced manner. The closure of Ben Gurion Airport is a completely populist event. "Until the second vaccine was received by most of the population, there was a desire to delay the entry of such and other variants into Israel, but at the moment it is clear that variants will enter even if the sky is closed."