Tour Operators Target Jewish Travel Groups

Jewish travelers seek the Holy Land and other worldwide destinations for religious travel. Here is a sampling of tour operators offering Jewish interest trips.

Covenant Tours, based in Israel, has been operating since 1982 and handles hundreds of people each year. Most travel groups have 30 to 80 people, but Covenant Tours has accommodated groups of up to 880. Services for smaller travel groups include walking tours in Jerusalem in English, French or Hebrew. Itineraries are customized for travel groups and may include bringing in the Sabbath at the Western Wall, new excavations in the City of David, Masada, a stay in a kibbutz guesthouse and the Holocaust Museum.

Covenant Tours
972-8-869-4688
info@covenant-tours.com

http://www.covenant-tours.com/

Gil Travel, based in Philadelphia, offers tours to Jewish travel groups. One sample itinerary is the 11-day “Jewish Heritage Tour to Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest & Prague,” where groups may see the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Remuh Synagogue in Krakow, and Dohany Street Synagogue and Hungarian Jewish Museum in Budapest. “Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tours in Israel” is an opportunity for a child to have the ceremony in the Holy Land, and the company helps connect tour participants with a local rabbi, choose a location such as the Ancient Synagogue of Messada, plan the reception details and enjoy the country. About 40,000 people travel to the Holy Land through Gil Travel each year, and the company has been operating since 1974.

Gil Travel
800-223-3855
info@giltravel.com

http://www.giltravel.com

The Western Wall in Jerusalem (photo courtesy of Israel Vision Tours)

The 14-day “Heritage Tour,” a sample tour from Israel Vision Tours, visits such destinations as the Byzantine Synagogue, Israel Museum, Bell Caves, the old city of Jerusalem in the Jewish Quarter, the room of the Last Supper and King David’s tomb. The 10-day “Bible Lands Seminar” offers stops in such destinations as the ruins of the ancient Roman capital of Caesarea, Elijah’s altar during his confrontation with false prophets in Muchraka, Queen Jezebel’s summer palace Tel of Jesreel, Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives. “Bar/ Bat Mitzvah Tour” offers a chance to celebrate this ceremony in the Holy Land and experience sites such as the City of David, Davidson Center and the Upper Galilee. Israel Vision Tours has U.S. offices in Long Beach and Los Angeles, CA and has been operating 32 years, specializing in religious pilgrimages and travel to the Holy Land, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Europe. About 600 participate in Jewish tours, and the company books a total of 3,000 guests per year.

Israel Vision Tours
888-333-9771
info@israelvisiontours.com

http://www.israelvisiontours.com

Isram World has been in operation for over 40 years, and each year brings

Masada (photo courtesy of Isram World)

20,000 travelers to the Holy Land, its main destination. In other parts of the world, the company offers the “Travel With a Scholar” series of Jewish interest tours led by Jacob Shoshan, a teacher and lecturer for Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University and Everyman’s University. Take the “Grand Tour of Spain” and stop in such places as the Andalusian city of Granada, which was “the City of Jews,” the Beth Yaacov Synagogue in Madrid and the Old Jewish Quarter in Gerona. “Splendors of China” offers the Temple of Heaven, World War II ghetto, Ohel Moshe Synagogue and the Jewish Community Center in Shanghai. “Eastern European Discovery” visits such sites as the Jewish Quarter and Jewish Museum in Vilna, Lithuania, the site of the Nazi death camp Majdanek in Lublin, Poland, and the site of the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps in Krakow. “India & Cochin” offers religious travelers an opportunity to see Cochin’s Jewish community. “Russia & the Baltics,” includes visits to Russia, Estonia, Latvian and Lithuania.

Isram World
800-223-7460
info@isram.com

http://www.isram.com

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tours (photo courtesy ITAS)

Israel Travel Advisory Service (ITAS) was founded in 1970 and began “Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tours” to Israel. Stops may include the ceremony at the synagogue on top of Masada, the Dead Sea, Western Wall, Israel Museum, Tower of David and Eilat. ITAS will also send CDs of Torah readings to the honored children prior to the ceremony. On“Adult Tours,” sample stops include the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem and Hertzel Museum on Mount Hertzel in Neot Kdumim. Couples can choose to renew their wedding vows in Israel. ITAS also offers trip extensions to Jordan. About 3,000 participants travel with ITAS every year.

ITAS
800-326-4827

http://www.itastours.com

Margaret Morse Tours takes about 1,000 to 2,000 to the Holy Land every year. One sample tour is the 16-day “Bar/ Bat Mitzvah Tour” with such stops as the Diaspora Museum, the Atlit detention compound for illegal Jewish immigrants during the British Mandate and a ceremony at Masada. “Adults Only” and “Families” tours are also available. Trip extensions can include Petra in Jordan. Margaret Morse Tours is a family business that began in 1980. Founder Margaret Morse became a Zionist after a trip to the Holy Land and was determined to bring more people to the land.

Margaret Morse Tours
800-327-3191
info@margaretmorsetours.com

http://www.margaretmorsetours.com/

Kesher Tours has specialized in Jewish travel for 30 years. One sample tour is a kosher vacation in Davos, Switzerland. The stop in Lengnau is the site of the first Jewish synagogue built in the area in 1755. In “Enchanting Italy,” visit Venice where the first Jewish ghetto was built in 1516. Religious travel groups can also customize their own tour.

Kesher Tours
212-481-3721
keshertours@verision.net

http://www.keshertours.com

There is a wide variety of Jewish travel destinations throughout the world, but the Holy Land is most coveted by Jewish travelers.