Israel Ministry of Tourism felicitates Om Prakash
Israel Ministry of Tourism felicitated Mr. Om Prakash, Director – INORBIT Tours Pvt. Ltd. for his outstanding contribution in promotion of Indian MICE Tourism to Israel since 1993.
At the special function held at St. Regis Hotel in Mumbai on 27th August 2019 in the presence of a large number of Travel Agents & Tour Operators, Airlines and Diplomats, Mr. Ya’akov Finkelstein, Consul General of Israel and Mr. Sammy Yahia, Director – Israel Ministry of Tourism, India & Philippines, felicitated Mr. Om Prakash, Director – INORBIT Tours and presented a Gold plated mural of Israel. Mr. Judah Samuel, Director Marketing – Israel Ministry of Tourism, spoke at length about the outstanding efforts of Mr. Om Prakash since 1993 for promotion of Israel in India.
At the felicitation of Mr. Om Prakash, the elite gathering applauded for the efforts of Mr. Om Prakash in such difficult situations.
It was in 1992 that the diplomatic relations between India & Israel were established and Mr. Om Prakash was one of the first tour operators to venture in the promotion of Israel. Through his immense efforts Mr. Om Prakash successfully organised a massive group of over 350 Indian agriculturists, horticulturists, dairy & animal husbandry experts, floriculturists and pesticides experts. He also managed to include many Indian States’ Ministers of Agriculture including the delegation of Senior Officials of Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India under the leadership of Mr. Balaram Jakhar, then Agriculture Minister, Govt. of India.
Mr. Judah Samuel, who was himself the witness to the achievements of Mr. Om Prakash, further said that, the period of 1993, was one the most difficult one to promote Israel as there was no airline connectivity. People had to travel via Cairo, Egypt, onward by road, escorted by security police convoy of Egypt Govt. to Israel’s Rafa border after crossing of the Suez Canal.
Mr. Om Prakash had to face many hurdles and hardships in travelling by land due to hostile relations with bordering countries. Mr. Om Prakash’s group of over 350 members, the first of its kind was specially welcomed by the then Prime Minister of Israel Mr. Shimon Peres and the Agriculture Minister of Israel Mr. Yacov Sur, who appreciated Mr. Om Prakash’s efforts and contribution.
However those efforts proved highly beneficial for the large number of Indian agriculturists who could study the latest achievements of Israel in all agri segments especially in drip irrigation, dairy and milk products. It was stated that Israel’s milk productivity was 42 litres of milk per cow per day, which is even a record as on today even 26 years later.
Benefits of Israel visit
This visit also helped many Indian States and Agro companies to establish Indo-Israeli agreements for transfer of agri-technology, technical know-how & collaborations. As a result of this visit there are many Indo-Israeli joint ventures and establishment of Israeli companies in India.
In reply to the felicitation, Mr. Om Prakash thanked the Israeli Ministry of Tourism for the felicitation, recognition and honour provided to him. He recommended that the Indian travel agents should start promotion of Israel which will provide an exciting destination to Indian travellers.