Peter Lyukimson, Israel. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
According to a report by the Chamber of Commerce Israel-Turkey, the volume of Israeli exports to Turkey grew by 44% in the first quarter of 2013 in comparison to the same period in 2012 and achieved a record of $560 million. These figures turn Turkey into the fourth important economic partner of Israel, while two years ago Turkey took the sixth place in this list.
Economists state that “the normalization of relations has nothing in common with this.” The head of the Israeli Export Institute, Ramzi Gabai, noted that it was a logical result – political tension between two countries had almost no influence on economic relations, which continued to develop progressively. According to Ramzi Gabai, Israel increased exports to Turkey in 2013, including oil products, plastic goods, and chemical industry products. At the same time, the export of metalware and waste metal export decreased by 30%.
Economists predict that in the nearest future the volume of plastic and chemical products which are exported from Israel to Turkey will grow, as well as agricultural products.
At the same time, it appeared that Israeli tourist companies plan to boost tour flows from Israel to Turkey in summer 2013. Optimism of tour operators relies on the fact that in April the number of Israeli tourists who decided to rest in Turkey reached 9460 people – it is by 185% more than in the same period last year. However, we cannot see the situation of 2008 when more than 600 thousand people from Israel visited Turkey annually.
The Israeli tourist company Ista conducted a social opinion poll which showed that the majority of Israeli citizens plan to spend the summer in the countries which replaced Turkey after the crisis in relations – Greece, Bulgaria, and Cyprus.
However, according to forecasts, the growth of Israeli tourists’ number in Turkey can be about 75% in comparison to summer 2012. To boost the tourist flow from Israel, Ista Company has recently sent 10 leading journalists to Turkey to make sure that nothing threatens Israeli tourists in this country.
The other sign of the intensification of tourist cooperation between the countries was the decision of Israeli airlines to reopen flights to Istanbul and Antalya. Only Turkish air lines provided these flights since 2011, which brought huge profits to them, according to economists.
