The tourism ministry’s new directive should generated more pax for TLV.

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) is launching a new directive aimed at driving up the number of air routes to the country’s main gateway of Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) in Tel Aviv.

The directive will be applied for a year from 1 November 2016 to 31 October 2017 and is part of a scheme worth up to €3m/$3.36m for each new route.

TLV is a major location for duty free and travel retail sales. In 2014, Generation Research ranked it 19^th in the world, with sales estimated at around $1m/day.

IMOT says that new flights launched into Tel Aviv during the winter season will see the government agency spend between €100,000 and €200,000 on marketing, while annual flights will earn an allocation of between €150,000 and €300,000 per airport.

Amir Halevi, Director General of IMOT, comments: “The Ministry views cooperation with the international tourism industry as invaluable. Tourism trade professionals are our strategic partners in advancing the efforts to increase incoming tourism to Israel. We are interested in encouraging new flight operators to open routes into Israel and assist with promoting these routes within their markets.”

To take advantage of this opportunity, operators need to submit proposal forms by 30 July.