MIDEAST : Tourists Test Israel-Turkey Relations

Israeli tourists are expected to flood Turkey, the only Muslim country that encourages tourism from the Jewish state, in record numbers next month. Will Israel’s good relations with Turkey survive the stampede?

Turkey became the most favored destination of Israeli tourists this year when Turkish hoteliers and charter airlines dropped their rates between Tel Aviv and Istanbul so drastically that it became cheaper for an Israeli family of four to fly to Turkey for a long weekend than to fly to the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat.

More than 100,000 Israelis traveled to Turkey between January and July of this year--a 252% increase over the same period in 1993, according to Turkish tourism figures. By the end of the year, more than 250,000 Israelis are expected to have visited Turkey.

“Why are Israelis going to Turkey? It is very simple--it’s cheap,” said Yaki Ben Menachem, vice president for marketing of Rimon Tours, a wholesale tour operator. “It has become a substitute for Eilat or Tiberias or Netanya.”

The deluge of Israelis has caused some problems in Turkey’s popular resorts, particularly in Antalya, on the southern coast, where Israelis joke that they can stay a week and never hear any language but Hebrew.

Israeli travelers returning earlier this month from Turkish vacations bombarded radio talk shows with complaints of overbooked hotels and surly service. Newspapers ran columns asking whether Israelis were truly welcome in Turkey.

Alarmed by the criticism, Aynur Dogan, information counselor for the Turkish Embassy in Israel, called a news conference earlier this month in Tel Aviv to reassure the public.

“We like the Israeli people, and we’re very happy to welcome them in our country. I wanted to say that I could find no concrete evidence of bad treatment,” Dogan said in an interview. She pointed out that Turkey has canceled its visa requirements for Israelis, although Turks must still obtain visas before traveling to Israel.

Both the Turks and Israel’s badly strained Ben Gurion International Airport are now bracing for the peak travel season. It starts Sept. 4, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which marks the start of the High Holy Days that include the fast day of Yom Kippur and culminate with the weeklong harvest festival of Succot.

September has so many holy days that there are only nine full working days during the month, and Israelis are eager to take advantage of the time off.

“You cannot get a flight out of Israel the night Yom Kippur ends,” said Nachman Klieman, spokesman for El Al, Israel’s national air carrier. “Every flight out is completely booked.” That includes six flights to Turkey, he said.

Demand is higher than usual for flights not only to Turkey but also to Athens, Bangkok, London, Nairobi and Beijing, Klieman said.

Israelis have always been passionate travelers. According to U.N. statistics, Israelis travel more per capita each year than the people of any other nation.

It is almost a rite of passage that young Israelis will spend a year traveling abroad after finishing their military service. And now, with the nation enjoying a spurt of economic growth, more Israelis have more money to spend on their favorite pastime.