It's official!
Hainan Airlines and the Ministry of Tourism are proud to announce
a new route between Guangzhou and Tel Aviv from August 2, 2018

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin: "The Ministry of Tourism is proud to be a
partner in the opening of the new line from Guangzhou to Tel Aviv, which
joins direct flights from Beijing and Shanghai, which we launched together
with Hainan. As a result of the fruitful cooperation with the company, there
are now ten weekly direct flights to China. The Guangzhou route joins a
number of new routes that have been launched since the beginning of 2018.
These include direct flights from New Delhi to Tel Aviv operated by Air
India, a direct flight by Edelweiss from Zurich to Eilat for the first time
in years, and a flight from Brazil by LATAM, the only airline operating a
direct route from South America to Israel. The routes represent a great vote
of confidence in the Israeli tourist product and further proof that the
ministry’s marketing efforts are yielding results. The Tourism Ministry is
convinced that the opening of the new route by Hainan Airlines will lead to
additional growth and new records in incoming tourism to Israel.”

Hainan Airline’s TLV GM Wei Ran: “We are very excited to announce the
opening of a new direct line to Guanzhou and thank the Minister of Tourism
and his office for the important support in the move. There is no precedence
in our company opening 3 routes to the same destination in less than two and
a half years. This is an amazing vote of confidence in the Israeli market on
the part of our company's headquarters and in our cooperation with the
Israeli government. We have no doubt that the new route from Guangzhou will
continue to boost the number of Chinese tourists in Israel and serve as
another bridge to strengthen the commercial relations between China and
Israel. We currently operate four weekly direct flights to Beijing and three
weekly direct flights to Shanghai, which exceeds all expectations and we are
confident that the three weekly flights to Guangzhou will enjoy similar
success. We will continue to provide the Israeli passengers with a premium
product at great prices. The flights to Guangzhou will be operated in modern
787-900 Dreamliner airplanes that will serve a very large market both from
China to Israel and from Israel to Guangzhou.”


Ministry of Tourism - Jerusalem, April 26, 2018 - After launching direct flights from Beijing and
Shanghai to Tel Aviv, Hainan Airlines will launch a new direct route with
three weekly flights between Guangzhou and Tel Aviv from August 2, 2018.
Only two years after the inauguration of Hainan's first route to Israel
(from Beijing), and half a year after the inauguration of the company’s
second route to Israel (from Shanghai), Hainan Airlines and the Israeli
Ministry of Tourism announced today (April 26) the signing of an agreement
in which the Ministry of Tourism will offer a grant of 750,000 Euro for the
opening of the Guangzhou route, as part of the close cooperation between the
Ministry and China’s only 5 star airline. Hainan Airlines announced that, as
a result of the signing of the agreement, the company will begin selling the
flights as of today on all its platforms.

The Chinese airline, which currently operates four weekly flights to Beijing
(Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and three weekly flights to Shanghai
(Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday), will start on Aug 2 to operate three weekly
direct flights to Guangzhou on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in
Dreamliner airplanes (usually 787-900). This translates to a total of 10
weekly direct flights between China and Israel. The flights will depart
Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays at
13:10 local time and arrive in Guangzhou at 5:05 the following day. The
flights will depart from Guangzhou on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays at
01:35 local time in the morning and will land in Tel-Aviv at 08:50 the same
day.

The Hainan announcement states that “Hainan Airlines entrance to the Israeli
market in April 2016 dramatically changed the local incoming tourism
industry and led to a revolution in the Israeli outbound market to China and
the Far East. The company currently hold 63% of the direct flight market to
China. On average, 30% of the passengers on the company’s routes to Israel
are Israelis, and 70% are Chinese. This explains one of the most important
results of the company’s entrance into the Israeli market: the dramatic
increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Israel. In 2017 some
114,000 Chinese tourists visited Israel, a 41% year on year increase.”

The announcement continues: “Hainan Airlines is China's fourth largest
airline. The company operates a fleet of 400 aircraft serving 1800 routes to
over 220 destinations in China and worldwide. The company is held by HNA
Group, a Chinese holding company whose assets include international hotel
chains and logistics companies. The opening of an additional route, less
than two and a half years after the launch of the route to Beijing, is a
very impressive vote of confidence in Israel and the Israeli market. Hainan
Airline is the only Chinese airline to win Skytrax five-star ranking (for
seven consecutive years). The company operates Airbus A330 on its Beijing
route and will operate the new Dreamliner (Boeing 787-900) on the Guangzhou
line, similar to the Shanghai line. In 2017 the company was ranked third in
the prestigious safety rating of JACDEC.

Background

The opening of an additional direct route from China is a continuation of
the efforts made by the Ministry of Tourism in recent years to increase
tourism from China. As early as 2015, Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir
Halevi met with senior executives at Hainan Airlines and presented them with
the economic feasibility of operating regular and direct air routes,
initially between Beijing and Tel Aviv, a route on which El Al had been the
only carrier. Thereafter, Hainan opened direct routes from Shanghai and now
Guangzhou.

The Ministry of Tourism has long been working to create a tourism
infrastructure in Israel adapted to the needs of the Chinese tourist,
including, among others, a tour guide course for Chinese speakers;
shortening the time taken to issue a visa for Chinese tourist groups to
enter Israel and assisting in the training of hotel staff on how best to
meet the specific needs of the Chinese tourist.

The number of outbound tourists from China is increasing each year, and in
2012, the tourism market in China became the largest in the world, with 83
million outbound tourists. In 2014, this figure grew to 116 million Chinese
tourists, who spent an estimated $120 billion.

In 2017, there was a 41% year on year increase in the number of incoming
tourists to Israel from China and a 142% increase on 2015. In 2017, 113,600
Chinese tourists arrived in Israel in 2017, compared with 80,300 in 2016 and
47,000 in 2015. The original goal of reaching 100,000 tourists, as set by
the Israel Government Tourist Office in Beijing, was therefore surpassed.

According to the 2017 Inbound Tourism Survey conducted for the Tourism
Ministry, the Chinese tourist spends about $241 per day on vacation in
Israel ($1,613 per vacation excluding flights). In contrast, the French
tourist spends $111 a day, the German $123, the Italian $174, and the
English $142.

The most visited tourist destinations by the Chinese are Tel Aviv-Yafo
(90.6%); Jerusalem (87.4%), and the Dead Sea area (73.8%). The most visited
sites by the Chinese are: the Western Wall (87%,) Mount of Olives (77%,) Old
Jaffa (76.8% ) and the Jewish Quarter (76.6%). About 58% of Chinese tourists
visit Israel in an organized tour, with an average length of stay of 8
nights.