According to a story by CCTV correspondent Stephanie Freid, inbound visitation to Israel from China – already up 50% this year - is growing so rapidly that a shortage of Mandarin-speaking tour guides has developed.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Tourism had begun paying Mandarin-speaking students to get tour-guide licenses. The first graduates of this program will begin work this fall.
Other measures intended to keep the big-spending Chinese coming to Israel include a new 10-year multiple-entry visa for Chinese citizens, additional Beijing-TelAviv air service capacity, incentives offered to Chinese hotel companies to build hotels in Israel, and the bringing in of top Chinese chefs to train chefs in Israel in the art of Chinese cuisine.
