00:00The country's dive spots are a magnet for snorkel and scuba enthusiasts the world over.
00:05Throw in a wide array of sumptuous local dishes and culinary treats spiced up unmatched Filipino
00:11hospitality and getting hooked on the Philippines comes as no surprise. And the latest country
00:17wanting greater tourism cooperation is Israel as we hear the latest deal inked between the
00:22tourism department and its holy land counterpart from Rod Lagosad.
00:29Strengthening cooperation in tourism. This is the goal of the joint declaration of intent
00:34signed between the Department of Tourism and the Israel Ministry of Tourism. According to
00:39Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, as of November 30, around 14,000 Israeli tourists
00:45have arrived in the Philippines this year making Israel the country's 33rd largest source market.
00:50The secretary further added Israel is an opportunity market for the Philippines
00:54especially since diving is very popular among Israelis. We feel that the tourism being the
01:02force for good that it is and the instrument for peace that it has always been can provide
01:10a wonderful opportunity for both Israel and the Philippines to benefit. We are very eager to
01:16cooperate in terms of gastronomy tourism, pilgrimage tourism, heritage and culture
01:23as well as in human capital development. She added that in the future this will be followed
01:28by the signing of a memorandum of cooperation in tourism. Israeli Tourism Minister Chaim Katz
01:34emphasized the importance of having direct flights between the two countries. The potential is big
01:40if we have the direct flights I think it's about 100,000 tourists a year can come from Israel
01:50to dive in the Philippines but we need a direct flight maybe more maybe more because the Israeli
01:56people love to travel around the world and the Philippines is an attractive country. He said the
02:04security situation in Israel has been calmer in recent months. As for the Department of Foreign
02:08Affairs the alert level for Israel remains at alert level two. It still stands and of course
02:14it's not really a ban but we we say a caveat for the Filipinos want to go there it's up to their
02:23understanding of how that the situation will affect them. We have to have a actual maybe a
02:29visit to Israel to really be certain about the assessment of the security situation so it cannot
02:35be done in a snap it should be done very carefully there's a system to do. He added that their
02:42assessment of the situation in the area is continuous. Recently a ceasefire agreement
02:46was reached between Israel and Lebanon while Israeli's military operation against Hamas in Gaza
02:51continues. Rod Legusad for the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.
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