Israel and Ukraine Discuss Cancellation of Tourist Visa Requirements

Following a bilateral agreement between Israel and Russia whereby visa requirements for Israeli and Russian citizens were cancelled, Israel is considering the possibility of signing a similar agreement with Ukraine.

"The arrival of 100,000 tourists in Israel has created 4,000 new jobs, mainly in related services”, according to the General Director of the Ministry of Tourism, SHaul TSemah. "We owe it to them to work towards cancelling the tourist visa", he explained.

At the beginning of the month, representatives from Israel and Ukraine discussed the need to reduce visa requests as much as possible for countries which supply a steady flow of tourists to Israel.

In 2007, 75,000 Ukrainians visited Israel – a 146 % increase compared with 2006 (30,000). In 2008, in January and February alone, approximately 22,000 Ukrainian tourists visited the country - up 300 % compared to the same period in 2007 (5,600).

http://fin-forex.com