Why not consider going beyond the commercialized gift-giving this holiday and make a trip to the Holy Land? Travelzoo offers a package that'll take you to the sacred spot and other sites in Israel. It's a 10-day, eight-night trip with airfare and accommodations included that'll cost you $1,299.

For the three-city tour, you'll be shuttled around in a bus to places like the ancient Roman port of Caesarea, the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Old City of Jerusalem. You'll stay four nights in Jerusalem, two in Galilee and two in Tel Aviv. As part of the package, you'll get nine meals—eight breakfasts and one dinner. ]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-11-13T08:59:27-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/19/15551/1125

Turkish tourism has taken a sustained hit this year, both because of the recession and because of some geopolitical dustups that we aren't about to get into. Regardless of the cause, the country's tourism board realizes they need to make up some ground. As a result, they're launching a new campaign to emphasize the wide array of travelers who will find something in Turkey, from history buffs to pilgrims to sports tourists.

The ad push includes a commercial they planted in the center of Times Square, a revamped new web presence with information about events, to a YouTube channel with a bunch of videos. The channel can be a little over-exuberant in places—the description of Turkey as the "cradle of civilization" and the "center of world history" will be news to Baghdad and Rome—but it does a good job highlighting the different kinds of options travelers can avail themselves of. ]]> Omri 2009-08-20T08:59:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/10/2470/97958

Israel's Ministry of Tourism has to deal with one of the travel industry's more challenging balancing acts: promoting the country's historical significance to religious travelers without freaking out secular tourists who should be attracted to party cities like Tel Aviv, all the while showing a side of Israel that goes beyond the headlines.

Israel hopes to pull off exactly that trifecta with a series of upcoming "Autumn Nights" celebrations in Jerusalem's Old City, emphasizing the Israeli capital's ancient religious heritage in a quintessentially modern way.]]> Omri 2009-08-11T16:59:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/18/152748/014

For the past ten years or so, the north Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg has been identified primarily with avant-garde art galleries, stylish bars, and of-the-moment restaurants, but every summer, residents are reminded of a much deeper history. Each July, the neighborhood hosts the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a festival that honors a Catholic saint named Saint Paulinus with music, food, parades, and the famous dancing of the giglio. For those who don't know, giglio is the Italian word for lily, and in this case it refers to an 80-foot tall, three-ton statue (pictured) that is carried and "danced" along Havemeyer Street by about 130 thick-necked men known as the Giglio Boys. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-07-18T15:27:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/6/134028/6059

The 12th century temple complex known as Angkor Wat is by far the most popular tourist site in Cambodia, drawing a million travelers a year to walk among its austere columns and soaring spires, many of which are overgrown with tree roots that resemble the tentacles of an octopus. Hoping to wring a few more dollars out of tourists - and enhance the visitor experience, of course - the government recently announced that it is considering installing artificial lighting throughout the ancient city so the temples can be open at night. The AP points out that visitors are typically ushered out of the area at sunset, and the new lighting will enable the park to stay open as late as 8:30 p.m. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-06-06T13:40:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/21/115634/190

Outer space is the perfect metaphor for God and the mysteries of life. It's infinitely vast, it's mysteriously unknowable, and it elicits wonder and contemplation in all who behold it. This might be why Austrian artists Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf installed a massive NASA photograph of an astronaut floating in space on the ceiling of the historic Jesuit Church in Vienna in an exhibit entitled The Jesuits' Cosmos. The photo, which will be on display through May 25, 2009, is printed on a huge section of semi-transparent net fabric. Employing a change in lighting, the curators can switch the focus between the astronaut and the curvature of the blue planet to a "reverted view" of the Andrea Pozzo ceiling frescoes above them. Either way, the viewer is awed with a sense of spatial illusion. I like this trend of installing thought-provoking pieces of modern art in houses of worship. It's a pleasant reminder that we're all on the same planet, just trying to get along and figure a few things out.

[Photo: Steinbrener-Dempf]

Related Stories:
· Jesuits' Cosmos [Steinbrener-Dempf]
· Vienna Jesuit Church [Official Site]
· Religious Travel Coverage [Jaunted]]]> Victor Ozols 2009-02-21T11:56:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/19/112433/864

The game of tit for tat continues in the Middle East. This time United Arab Emirates officials barred Israeli tennis players from competing in Dubai's Tennis Championships. Their rationalization is based on "recent events in the region" that potentially could "put at risk the players and the many tennis fans of different nationalities that we have here in the UAE."

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization, has fired back with an e-mail asking its 400,000 members and the international Jewish community to nix any vacay plans to Dubai. SWC officials say the travel advisory will lift when the government of Dubai drops its security concerns. This could be sooner than we think. Apparently today, the UAE has given a permit entry to Israeli tennis player, Andy Ram.

]]> shiralevine 2009-02-19T13:53:35-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/