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Monday, 28 July 2008 21:54 |
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You may have heard about the planned increase in the border crossing fees which, as Eilat borders on both Jordan (Rabin crossing) and Egypt (Taba crossing), is quite relevant for both locals and tourists. |
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You may have heard about the planned increase in the border crossing fees which, as Eilat borders on both Jordan (Rabin crossing) and Egypt (Taba crossing), is quite relevant for both locals and tourists.
The Minister of Tourism, Ruhama Avraham-Belila, has asked for a postponement in implementing the new, higher rates for travellers exiting Israel through the border crossings. She approached the Minister of Transportation, Shaul Mofaz, with the request to delay implementation of the fee hike that was slated to go into effect on 1.8.08 due to the decline in the dollar rate and the fact that the fee had not been raised since the 1990s.
The Minister explained that carrying out of the decision needs to be delayed until the start of the new financial/business year on 1.1.09 so that travel agents can adjust prices on tourism packages accordingly without incurring damage and losses from the packages that have already been sold at the old prices, and so that the airlines can prepare for the change.
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"The short notice that was given to travel agents and airlines will cause them financial damage, because tourism packages already sold until recently were priced at the old rate, because of the rate of the increase, which is over 50%, and because of the increase in fuel prices that adversely affect the airlines' activities," Minister Avraham-Belila pointed out.
Minister Mofaz said he would bring up the matter before the relevant entities and examine ways to avoid harm to the tourism industry.
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