Syrian fighting decimates tourism industry

Published on December 3, 2012

Damascus is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. International flights into and out of the capital continued despite throughout 20-months of fighting between troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and the rebels seeking to depose him. But as of Friday, the flights have stopped.

Bulgarian police release photo of bomb attack accomplice

Published on August 16, 2012

Bulgarian police released a computer-generated image and a fake driver's license photo of a man believed to be an accomplice in the bombing of an Israeli tour bus in Burgas that killed six.

Spain reaches out to American Jewish tourists

Published on June 27, 2012

Unless you can read artistically distorted Hebrew, you might not realize that the logo of a program by Spain’s tourism board spells out the four letters of “Sepharad,” the Hebrew word for Spain. And unless you know European geography, you might not realize that the distorted Hebrew letters represent the outline — the national borders — of Spain.

Report: Jewish tourists in Jordan assaulted

Published on June 5, 2012

A group of kipah-clad Jewish tourists in Jordan reportedly was harassed and attacked by locals.

Missing U.S. tourist found dead in Israel

Published on May 29, 2012

The body of an American tourist missing since last week was discovered near Beit Shean.

Drama: My Personal Samoa Survivor (Video)

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on February 27, 2012

Red Goddess Rising by Halle Eavelyn

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on January 30, 2012

Bahia de Kino, The Foundation Part 1

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on December 12, 2011

Discovering Algeria: Exploring Timgad

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on December 6, 2011

As seen on MSN.com Today!

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on December 1, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! Realize Your Dreams! (video)

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on November 20, 2011

Let there never be a need for another Yad Vashem

By Lauren Bottner
Published on October 29, 2011

The stones of our faith

By Lauren Bottner
Published on October 27, 2011

Declaring a place to call home

By Lauren Bottner
Published on October 25, 2011

Turbulent Tonga Part II: “Toni’s Guesthouse Tour”

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on October 23, 2011

First Step to Travel Dreams (slideshow)

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on October 17, 2011

“I hate you and I hate Samoa:” The beginning of a Great Travel Adventure (video)

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on October 8, 2011

More Information on Getting That Visa

Published on September 7, 2006

The U.S. government estimates that about 40 percent of people who are in this country illegally arrived on a legal visa but lost their legal status either by overstaying or otherwise violating the terms of their visa. These are sometimes referred to as "nonimmigrant overstayers."

Israel - Tourists Unfazed by Gaza Pullout

By Daniella Peled
Published on September 1, 2005

For visitors to Israel this summer, the disengagement from the Gaza Strip proved hard to ignore.

"Everybody's orange," said Rebecca Kaminski, from Berlin, with a laugh, referring to the color adopted by the anti-disengagement activists. "I'm on the blue side, I guess."

Sitting on the beach in Netanya, the 22-year-old was working on her already impressive tan with a group of girlfriends, all students at a six-week summer ulpan, or Hebrew-language immersion course, in Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon.

They have not been deterred from visiting Israel during its exit from the Gaza settlements and parts of the West Bank.

The Soul of Maui

By Rob Eshman
Published on November 6, 2003

There's a Hawaiian legend about a pregnant woman who developed a craving for the eyeballs of royalty. Advisers to the king took this to mean that the woman's child would one day grow up to defeat the king and rule all the islands. The king decreed that the baby be killed as soon as it was born. So the woman had her newborn boy spirited away and hidden from the king.

The boy became King Kamehameha, who indeed conquered the islands of Hawaii.

I read this Moses-like story one night, sitting on the balcony of our room at the Maui Prince Hotel.

Cuban Jews’ Plight Sparks Drive to Help

By Andrea Adelson
Published on January 2, 2003

Tourist Cuba is a bit like a time-machine ride through a Cold War theme park. Vintage Detroit autos rumble past charming Havana hotels refurbished to their pre-revolutionary glory. Posters for featured movies at a film festival keep company with ones that blare slogans like, "La Revolucion Siempre," or the revolution always.

Yet, when Roe Gruber and her daughter took a Havana apartment for a month last summer, the Tustin residents were able to escape the tourist cocoon. They learned new skills, like coping with Third World shortages by offering bribes for tomatoes and theater tickets.

Singles Fall in Love With Israel

By David Margolis
Published on September 12, 2002

Luckily, the lure was Israel, not pairing up.

The Melting Wok

By Anthea Gerrie
Published on February 15, 2001

It was Friday night in Shanghai, a major linchpin of the Jewish Diaspora, and folks from all over the world were dropping in to wish Rabbi Greenberg "Shabbat shalom."

Israel All to Yourself

By Adam Wills
Published on January 18, 2001

I was more than a little conflicted when Israel's Ministry of Tourism invited me to visit the Holy Land for one week in December to judge for myself whether the country was safe enough for tourists. I'd never traveled to Israel before, and while I knew that life was going on as usual for most Israelis, CNN's daily images of conflict and the U.S. State Department's warning fed my apprehension.

Downward Trend

By Mike Levy
Published on January 18, 2001

Tour operator Tova Gilead returned from a 10-day trip to Israel in early January and brought back wonderful stories of people experiencing the beauty and history of the Holy Land, many for the first time.

Tourism in Israel

By Rob Eshman
Published on November 2, 2000

Ehud Barak has the hardest job in Israel these days, but Itai Eiges' is no walk in the park, either. As director general of the ministry of tourism, Eiges is in charge of promoting an industry that has been crippled by the recent conflict. Tour operators are reporting a 50 percent cancellation rate, the U.S. State Department has instituted a travel warning on the Middle East, and Britain has levied one against Jerusalem. It is the worst drop-off in travel in decades.

Greatness

By Rabbi Elazar Muskin
Published on November 2, 2000

In most big cities in the United States, horse-and-buggy rides are offered as tourist attractions. It is therefore not shocking to find them lined up in Philadelphia, right near Constitution Hall and the Liberty Bell.

Approaching The Millennium

By Avi Machlis
Published on December 16, 1999

Melodic harmonies echo through Dominus Flevit, a small-but-quaint church on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, as a group of 30 Christian Bible scholars and pastors sing "Hallelujah to the Lord," first in English, then Hebrew.
Built in 1955 on the ruins of an ancient church, the teardrop-shaped structure commands a breathtaking view of the eastern walls of Jerusalem's Old City. According to Christian tradition, Jesus, knowing his prophetic message would be rejected, wept here as he viewed the illusion of a tranquil city that, in fact, was bitterly divided, its Jewish population suffering under a brutal Roman occupation.

Jewish Croatia: Through the Looking Glass

By Gene Lichtenstein
Published on December 2, 1999

The Croatian Tourist Office in conjunction with Lufthansa had generously put together a 12 day guest package, hoping we would like what we saw (after all, parts of Croatia, especially the Dalmatian coast on the Adriatic Sea, are quite beautiful). The thought was we would combine descriptions of the famous tourist sights with a report to our readers on the life and times of Jewish Croatia.

Hungarian Haven

By Michael J
Published on April 1, 1999

In other circumstances, there would be nothing unusual about busloads of Yugoslavs visiting the capital of their northern neighbor, Hungary.

Israel’s Tug of the Tides

By Rabbi Harvey J. Fields
Published on July 10, 1997

Photo from "The Jews in America," Collins Publishers, 1989.Out along the glistening white, sandy beach in Herzliya, one feels a sense of serenity. The expected is unfolding. The tides gently form the shining blue waters of the Mediterranean into white foaming waves that crash upon the shore. They invade and wash away children's sand castles, cool the feet of walkers like me. The sounds at water's edge are constant, primal, refreshing.

The Spiritual Tourist

By Rabbi Ed Feinstein
Published on June 26, 1997

My neighbors completed an around-the-world trip. It was their dream, the trip of a lifetime. When we gathered to welcome them home, they eagerly described the journey's highlights -- the Sheraton in Bangkok, the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Beijing, a Clint Eastwood film in a Calcutta theater, Budweiser in Holland and Kellogg's Corn Flakes in Great Britain.