SITE of the WEEK
Happy New Year
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Not Another Pilgrimage
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REVISIT HISTORY TODAY # 005
Oc t ober
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IDENTITY’S The Traveller TIPS NEW S AND INFORMATION ABOUT
TRAVEL AND EDUCATION IN ISRAEL
Identity Travel Presents: CFI Engage Israel Tour May 28th - June 8th 2012
Engaging Tour & Christian Friends of Israel Conference This week Identity Travel announced the launch of its Engage Israel Tour in collaboration with Christian Friends of Israel. This enriching tour combines educational content and sightseeing to further the understanding of Israel's historical, cultural and political heritage. The itinerary includes eight days of touring seamlessly followed by the 4 day CFI Jerusalem conference. This May 28th - June 8th tour will integrate New and Old Testament heritage sites, Zionist sites and contemporary tourist attractions with diverse key note speakers and politically -charged workshops. The highpoint of this experience will be in Jerusalem where participants will join the Christian Friends of Israel Annual Conference.
“CFI is welcoming Identity Travel to join our Annual CFI Conference in Jerusalem for 2012,” says Sharon Sanders, Executive Director of Christian Friends of Israel. "It has always been a highlight and unforgettable experience for Christians who love Israel to attend.” CFI's conference has brought thousands of Christian supporters to Jerusalem over the past 26 years for in-depth teaching of God’s Word on Israel. The conference will include some of the world’s most distinguished speakers on Israel and the Church as well as Christian praise and worship. To signup Contact: malcolm@identitytour.com
SITE of the WEEK Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu Bio-Tour A pioneer in organic agriculture, Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu welcomes visitors to a unique tour in its clean air and chemical free environment of organic farming. Participants in the local Bio-Tour are met by experienced guides who walk them through a multi-sensual experience of nature. The thoughtprovoking experience arouses all the senses; see, hear, smell, taste and touch Israeli nature and agriculture .
2011
Happy Rosh Hashanah !
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Identity Travel wishes all its clients, partners and providers a Happy New Year. We were moved by your response to our greeting cards. The tour groups on the ground had the opportunity to witness the local festivities as well as experience traditional blowing of the Shofar (horn) in Jerusalem.
Welcome Travel Agents! We would like to welcome our new travel agent partners. Their success is our success.
Cross cultural tour group blowing Shofar horns in Jerusalem
Letter From the Founder:
Booking to Gain a New Perspective We are always happy to customize special interest tours for our customers.
A new year is upon us, new resolutions, new partners, new customers and new tours! In 2011 we offered our engaging enrichment tours only to groups and customized them in collaboration with the tour leader. This month we announced our scheduled of guaranteed departure for 2012 that will allow individuals to enjoy our innovative approach to tours in Israel.
Many people travel aims to expose particiacross the world without pants to a plethora of really seeing it. Going layers and perspectives from one air conditioned on Israel’s history and hotel to aspects in relation “Travel is never to a the next, to the current destination but to a getting conflict. new way of seeing on and things” From biblical off the Henry Miller archeological bus to ruins to colonial see sights antiquities, from the birth and mark another check of religion to holy war, on their list. With out from modern fortresses context, these sights are to contemporary politics. reduced to no more than We want you to experianother tack pins on a ence it all! Meet the map. people and hear their Our Roots of the Conflict story to understand Israel series of tours like never before.
N EW F ACES Tour Manager Identity is proud to welcome James Williams as Tour Manager. James is an expert in travel planning and tour operation. His interpersonal skills allow him to pin-point the client's needs and turn them into a reality. In his former capacity as Director of Education, Development and Tour programing at Hibba Israeli Heritage Movement he was responsible for developing on-tour educational content and coordinating tours and seminars in Israel. Prior to working in the travel business, James has used his organizational skills and his logistics experience to benefit a range of non-profit organizations in the UK, Israel and Canada. James has both the skill and the desire to educate, to give and to make thing happen. In this sense he embodies the spirit of Identity Travel.
UPCOMING TOURS 2012 Guaranteed Departure for Individual Bookings December 29th 2011 - January 7th 2012
Roots of the Conflict Political Tour
December 29th 2011 - January 5th 2012
Walk in His Footsteps Tour
February 16th -February 22nd 2012
Wine and Dine in Israel Tour
April 25th - May 3rd 2012
Bridges For Peace Tour
May 3rd - MAY 10th 2012
Kabbalah Way of Life Tour
May 28th - June 8th 2012
Engage Israel CFI Conference and Tour
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June 29th - July 8th 2012
Roots of the Conflict Tour Political Tour
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June 29th - July 6th 2012
Walk in His Footsteps Tour
August 2nd - August 9th 2012
Wine and Dine in Israel Tour
November 9th - November 18th 2012
Roots of the Conflict Tour Political Tour
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November 9th - November 16th 2012
Wak in His Footsteps Christian Tour
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"T
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ravel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." -- Miriam Beard
NOT ANOTHER PILGRIMAGE How many times have you heard of yet another pilgrimage to Israel? Ever since the dawn of Christianity, a modest but constant stream of dedicated believers have made their way to the Holy Land to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. After the Six Day War in 1967 Israel's tourism experienced unprecedented growth and achieved a staggering 2 million tourists a year. That’s when pilgrimages to Israel first became a marketable product – a business.
Many Christians have ventured here over the decades touring sites related to the life of Jesus or mentioned in the New Testament. Seeing the sites dating to this very specific 40 year era is in itself such a moving and fulfilling experience that tourists often felt no further need to expand the scope of their spiritual exploration. The tour operators, to their end, failed to provide innovation and thus pilgrimages were reduced to a sightseeing checklist devoid of any context or contemporary relevance. Today's Christian tourist is no longer satisfied with the classic
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'Walk in His footsteps ' pilgrimage. Many supplement the traditional sites with Old Testament sites and Jewish sites to get a better understanding of the backdrop to the birth of Christianity. Others take a wider view to Christian history, including its less convenient segments such as the Crusades. Most of all, Christians are interested these days in the political situation, the role and stance of Christianity on the issues of modern day Israel. The Christian Tourism of today is a true exploration, offering a spiritual journey of discovery. A discovery of ancient roots ignored for millenniums, a discovery of the connection to the land, the people, and their fate – It is an exploration into ones identity and that, my friends, is the essence of all meaningful travel. At Identity Travel we try to cater to this demand and we have created educational tours that offer self-discovery through history, culture and politics. Our agenda is to educate our customers and enrich their sense of place, time and identity. If our success is in any way a reflection of the extent of this new market, Israel's potential for growth as a tourist destination for the 'thinking Christian market' is infinite.