Huberman Red SeaDead SeaBay of EilatSea of Galilee

  • Issue: March 1989
  • Designer: O. & E. Schwartz
  • Stamp size: 30.8 x 30.8 mm
  • Sheet of 15 stamps Tabs: 5

In 1987 the number of tourists visiting Israel reached one and a half million. They spent the majority of their time on the shores of Israel's four seas. The State's achievement in promoting and developing tourism is commemorated in this series of four stamps; "Israel's four seas".

Holiday tourism in Israel centres along the four shorelines of:

The Mediterranean is the link between Europe, Asia and Africa and its coastline provides Israel with its longest border. In recent years, in line with changing vacationing patterns throughout the world, holiday-makers, with more time at their disposal, have been looking for more places to relax in and enjoy. As a consequence, tourism along Israel's beaches and lakes has greatly increased. The Mediterranean coast is one of Israel's main tourist attractions and all along it places such as Nahariya, Haifa, Caesaria, Netanya, Herzlia, Tel-Aviv-Yaffo, and Ashkelon have been developed with the holiday-maker and visitor in mind. Promenades and walkways along sea fronts, hotels and recreation areas serve local tourists and visitors from abroad alike.

The Sea of Galilee is the largest sweet water reservoir in Israel. It is some 21 km (13 miles) long; at its widest point it is 12 km (7.5 miles) across, and it contains some 4 milliard cubic metres of drinking water. After the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt, the number of people visiting Lake Kinneret, as it is called in Hebrew, has grown very significantly and the massive investment in tourist facilities has made it the prime vacationing area in Israel.

With this has come fast growth in the number of hotels and in the size of existing ones, catering to more and more holiday-makers. The area around the Kinneret is famous for its beauty spots: Tiveria (Tiberias), Ein Gev, the Bay of Amnon, and the Semakh Beach have become favourite resorts, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

At the southern outlet of the River Jordan, at the lowest point in the surface of the globe, some 400 m. (1200ft.) below Sea Level, lies the Dead Sea, It was created in the formation of the vast Syrian-African Rift Valley and though its waters are too saline for anything to live in, the sea is rich in minerals. Along its shores are several Hot Springs and health spas which are the basis of the health tourism here all the year round. Kalia Beach, Qumeran, Einot Tzukim (Ein Feishkha), Ein Gedi, Masada, Ein Bokek and Ein Zohar are all powerful tourist attractions, The Government has helped turn the area into a major tourist centre and there are now 10 hotels, with surrounding amenities, on the Dead Sea coast. Visitors, who come mainly to take advantage of the healing qualities of the sea, the thermal springs, the black mud treatments and the special curative sunlight, stay an average of 28 days in the area.

The Bay of Eilat and the Red Sea area at Israel's southern tip have been granted a special tax status by the Government. Eilat's long-standing reputation and the boost which major investment in the necessary infrastructure (construction of hotels, a lagoon and marina, shopping centres and beaches) have given the city, have turned it into a world tourist center. Direct flights from abroad (as well as from the centre of the country) have made Eilat accessible to the vacationer. Tourism is the principle source of employment of the region and future developments also point in this direction.

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Tourism