MITZPE RAMON, Israel: Israel has already been credited with making the desert bloom. Now it hopes to make it boom — with tourists.
Seeking to bolster tourism to its vast and largely undeveloped Negev desert region, Israel is promoting luxury camping trips, Bedouin hospitality and challenging outdoor activities like dune surfing.
In addition, a new international airport is rising from the desert floor 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat and the neighboring Jordanian port of Aqaba.
Tourism in Israel is big business, bringing in $5.8 billion in 2017.
Arrivals to the country of about eight million citizens hit a record 3.6 million last year, the Israeli tourism ministry said.
The United States, Russia, France, Germany and Britain accounted for most of the visitors.
The ministry says that it now seeks to grow the Negev’s share of total Israeli tourist revenue from the present five percent to 20 percent within two to three years.
It also aims to increase the number of Negev hotel rooms from 2,000 to about 5,000 within six to seven years.
Israel is marketing the desert as a unique destination on Europe’s doorstep.
“When it’s very cold in Europe, let’s say in December, January and February, we have very mild temperatures in the Negev,” the tourism ministry’s Uri Sharon told journalists on a tour of the sparsely populated region.
Activities include hiking, biking, rock climbing, abseiling and dune surfing — akin to snowboarding on sand.
The Negev is also home to a geological marvel: the Ramon Crater, the world’s largest erosion crater.
Salaam El Wadj has opened up the encampment where he lives with his wife, children and goats to visitors, who can stay in one of the tents and listen to his stories of Bedouin life.
“I was born here in the Negev hills,” he tells his visitors over strong, sweet tea.
Wadj relates how the arrival a century ago of British and French administrators and, in 1948, officials of the new state of Israel, brought a drive for modernization that disrupted and threatened the nomadic Bedouin way of life.
Hosting tourists, he said, enables him to preserve his heritage.
“They don’t want to just sleep in a Bedouin camp but also to learn,” he said.
Hikers can walk along part of the Negev Highland Trail, covering about 12 km a day between Bedouin camps while their luggage is transported by vehicle.
Near Wadj’s site, Hannah and Eyal Izrael have planted vineyards on terraces where Nabatean farmers cultivated vines 2,000 years ago.
Their Carmey Avdat winery produces just 5,000 bottles a year of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and other wines.
Eyal supplements his income by offering tourist accommodation in cabins and group tours to surrounding sites of interest rather than industrializing his winemaking.
Visitors can help run the production line and bottle, cork and label their choice of wine personally.
“All the time there are tourists from all over the world coming to the Israeli desert to explore, trek, taste our wine, go to other farms to taste goat cheese,” he said.
“The Negev is a very safe and accessible desert and it’s warm here.”
The vines grow in a natural basin, watered in winter by runoff from the surrounding hills and augmented with a modern irrigation system fed by desalinated sea water piped from the Mediterranean coast.
Not far from Carmey Avdat is the town of Mitzpe Ramon, which stands at the edge of the Ramon Crater.
There, travelers after tranquility with a luxurious twist can go “glamping” — glamor camping — in luxury tents with hot showers and a personal chef.
When inky night falls over the crater’s floor, there is the option of gazing through high-powered telescopes at the stars shining brightly in the unpolluted sky.
The Negev’s heart is only about a two-hour drive from Israel’s main international airport near Tel Aviv.
The new Ramon Airport will bring jumbo jets from around the globe to the desert itself.
Its website says that it will be able to initially handle up to two million passengers annually, but will be able to expand to a capacity of 4.2 million by 2030.
Low-cost and charter airlines currently flying to Ovda airport, about 60 km away from Eilat, will move to Ramon, it says.
They include Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet, SAS, Finnair and Ural Airlines.
Construction began in May 2013.
Israeli media say that the airport is expected to start operations this autumn, in time for the November-May winter tourist season, but the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) is making no official forecasts.
The IAA says the original specifications for the project were revised in light of lessons learned during the 2014 Gaza war.
After a rocket fired by Hamas militants in Gaza hit near the perimeter of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, international carriers suspended flights.
IAA spokesman Ofer Lefler said that the revised plans for the Ramon airport will allow it to serve as a backup in addition to boosting tourism.
“In an emergency, not only will Israel’s entire passenger air fleet be able to land and park there, but also additional aircraft,” he said.
Seeking tourists, Israel promotes a different sun and sand
Seeking tourists, Israel promotes a different sun and sand
Russian cyclist finds warm welcome on Saudi Arabia’s roads
- Anna Rodnishcheva’s ride through Kingdom is defining chapter in solo expedition
- Rodnishcheva cycled to Aqaba, crossed the border into Saudi Arabia, and has since traveled through Tabuk, AlUla, Madinah, Jeddah, and Taif on her way to Riyadh
MAKKAH: Solo adventurer Anna Rodnishcheva, 27, has undertaken an ambitious journey that spans countries, climates and cultures — on a bicycle.
Born and raised in Moscow and trained as a biologist before becoming an event photographer, she now finds herself pedaling thousands of kilometers across unfamiliar landscapes in pursuit of discovery, connection, and the simple joy of movement.
In her conversation with Arab News, Rodnishcheva offered a detailed account of her ongoing route in Saudi Arabia, describing how the expedition is her third major cycling adventure.
After previously riding from Moscow to Sochi and later from Vladivostok to Sochi — a route that stretches across the entirety of Russia — she felt compelled to explore foreign lands by bicycle.
She set off from Moscow heading south last June, passing through Russia, Georgia, and Turkiye before flying from Antalya to Amman. She cycled to Aqaba, crossed the border into Saudi Arabia, and has since traveled through Tabuk, AlUla, Madinah, Jeddah, and Taif on her way to Riyadh.
Rodnishcheva explained that physical preparation played only a small role in her planning. She began slowly and allowed her body to adapt naturally over the first month.
The true challenge, she said, was in the mental and financial preparation. She spent a year and a half planning the journey, even though she originally intended to postpone it for several more years.
Ultimately, her belief that “life is short” convinced her to start with the resources she already had. Although she sought medical evaluations and additional vaccinations, she was unable to complete them all and decided to continue regardless.
Her journey through Georgia and Turkiye presented unexpected difficulties. Simple tasks such as finding groceries or locating bicycle repair shops became more challenging outside of Russia, where she knew how to navigate on a budget.
She also encountered language barriers, though the situation improved when a local cyclist joined her in Georgia. The intense midsummer heat added another layer of difficulty, but she had prepared herself for such conditions.
One of the most striking moments of her trip occurred as she crossed from Jordan into Saudi Arabia. She described the experience as surreal and emotionally overwhelming, likening it to the adventures of a literary hero traveling across the Arabian Peninsula.
Her anxiety eased unexpectedly when she got a flat tire at the border, bringing her back to the present.
Despite being warned that crossing by bicycle would be prohibited, the process went smoothly, and she was struck by the friendliness of both Jordanian and Saudi officials. She expressed particular surprise at meeting a female Saudi passport officer, an encounter that challenged her previous assumptions about women’s roles in the Kingdom.
Rodnishcheva said the hospitality she had experienced in Saudi Arabia surpassed anything she had encountered on previous journeys. Drivers frequently stop to offer her water, fruit, or sweets, and several families have generously hosted her in their homes or guest flats.
She emphasized that she feels completely safe traveling across the Kingdom, especially on the open roads between cities, noting the strong and visible security presence.
She has also observed significant differences in weather. While the stretch from the border to Jeddah was hot despite being winter, the climate changed dramatically after climbing Al-Hada in Taif, turning cooler and windier — a climate she compared to Russian summers.
Rodnishcheva documents her travels primarily through Russian-language platforms such as VK and Telegram. Although she maintains YouTube and Instagram accounts, she explained that her schedule left little time for frequent updates.
Offering a message to women around the world who dream of embarking on similar adventures, she said such journeys were “not as scary as they seem before you start,” though they may not suit everyone.
Her closing advice? “Listen to your heart.”
