Vacation prices in Eilat are at rock bottom. A holiday for two, including a mid-week flight, is being sold for NIS 1,000, the lowest price in a year, and lower than the last winter season.
Tourism industry sources say that demand for holidays in the resort is at the lowest in years. They attribute the difficulty in marketing holiday packages to Israelis to Eilat's high prices compared with foreign vacation spots. "We're urging hotels to lower prices if they do not want to have ridiculous occupancy rates," ISSTA Lines Group Ltd. domestic tourism manager Simha Elfassi told "Globes". He gave a precise figure, saying, "The gap between present prices and peak summer prices is 50%."
This means that, compared to a vacation in the heat of July and August, when Eilat's places of entertainment are packed - a winter vacation will be cheaper and more enjoyable. Not only will it be possible to save thousands of shekels on a vacation, visitors will be treated like kings. In view of the economic crisis in Europe and the paucity of conventions in the town, hotels are starved for guests. The holiday discounts mostly apply to January-February, and usually exclude the Hannukah and Christmas periods, although it is possible to find bargain packages even for these dates.
Online reservations site Daka 90 VP marketing Dana Lavie explained the plunge in vacation prices in Eilat. "First and foremost is the economic climate in the world and in Israel, which has caused a halt in advance reservations. Hotels and airlines have increased their discounts in response. Another reason is, in contrast to previous years, there are no conventions or seminars at Eilat's hotels, resulting in empty hotel rooms. Because the hotels have heavy fixed operating costs, they prefer offering big discounts."
IDB Tourism VP trade and aviation Dror Bahat said, "Low winter demand is also affecting air fares, either as part of a holiday package, or independently." For example, a Tel Aviv-Eilat ticket costs NIS 170, compared with the regular fare of NIS 380.
"Both we and the airlines want full occupancy, so package deals will be more worthwhile," said Fattal Hotels Management VP marketing Ronny Aloni. However, Dan Eilat Hotel manager Lior Muchnik believes that it is also worthwhile checking whether separate reservations are cheaper than package deals, due to low fares.
Eshet Tours VP marketing Galit Zakkai emphasizes that a mid-week vacation is especially worthwhile. "Weekend occupancy rates and demand are still reasonable, thanks to reservations by workers committees and homogenous groups. There is no doubt that mid-week is a great time to take a high-quality vacation at the best price."
The price difference between different rated hotels is narrowing. Winter rates at premium hotels can be very low. "The gap between luxury and inexpensive hotels is narrowing," says Aloni. Zakkai says that 5-star hotels are best during mid-week. "The discounts are for 5-star hotels as well."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 15, 2011
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