Israel tourism hires new marketing & business manager for Canada

The Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) has hired two marketing and business managers for its North American offices: Simmi Shulman, for the Northeast region within the United States, and Hilary Brown, who will be based in Toronto, overseeing business across Canada.

“We are thrilled to welcome these talented individuals to our tourism marketing team to help us navigate through these challenging times and beyond,” said Yael Golan, Interim Tourism Commissioner, Israel Ministry of Tourism, in a press release. “We look forward to seeing the ways in which Simmi and Hilary implement their knowledge of the industry to help keep Israel top of mind as a premier travel destination for tourists and our trade partners alike.”

In Toronto, Brown brings 20 years of experience to the role, having previously served as a business development manager for Globus family of brands. 

In her role at IMOT, Brown will work on transforming partnerships into success stories in Canada through training events and engaging travel talks.

The news comes following the departure of Gal Hana, who left his role as Consul – Director for the IMOT in Canada in June.

IMOT Canada’s previous director of marketing and partnerships was Fiona Kosmin, who left the organization in April to become a regional sales and marketing manager for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), representing Eastern Ontario.

Israel’s tourism industry has plunged into a crisis as the war in Gaza continues. Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, around 853,000 tourist entries have been recorded, mainly from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and the Philippines, the IMOT says. 

With arrivals down in 2024, Israel’s tourism ministry has estimated that the drop in foreign tourists has translated into 18.7 billion shekels ($4.9 billion USD) in lost revenue since the start of the war.

Air Canada's operations to and from Tel Aviv (TLV) will remain suspended for "the foreseeable future" as the airline continues to monitor developments in the region, according to an update posted to the the company's website on Oct. 31.

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