Baguette, brie and a vacation in Israel
France's largest supermarket chain, Carrefour, to sell tourist packages to Holy Land.
The agreement, an initiative of Efrat Groman, director of the Israel Government Tourist Office in France, includes targeted marketing and advertising of Israel in all Carrefour supermarkets throughout France.
Beginning in mid-March 2014 for one month, supermarket salespeople will sell vacation packages of flights on El Al and seven nights' accommodation in Israel.
The Carrefour loyalty club has over 13.7 million members of a total population of 64 million people living in France. The chain also owns 145 travel agents throughout France (Carrefour Voyages), located within the supermarkets immediately after the checkout.
According to company research, about three-quarters of all supermarket clients take notice of the advertisements in the travel agency – in addition to those who come especially to explore vacation possibilities. The chain sells about 450,000 tourist packages a year. In January-February, in advance of the sales marathon, the Tourism Ministry briefed some 400 travel agents in the chain throughout France.
Israel will remain 'on the shelf'
Cooperation with the chain, at a cost of €125,000 (about $172,000), includes advertising on the Carrefour website; a full page ad in the company flyer to be distributed to 18 million people throughout France during March; in-store advertising, flyers, stickers etc and a dedicated newsletter about Israel for Carrefour loyalty club members.
Tourism Ministry marketing videos will be screened in store and on the Carrefour website, where Israel will appear in the list of top destinations. Top sellers of the Israel vacation packages will win prizes.
According to Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau, "2013 ended as a record year for incoming tourism and the Tourism Ministry is working at full strength in order to achieve another record-breaking year in 2014.
"With the implementation of the Open Skies agreement, Israel is becoming an accessible destination for the average European vacationer and we must work to put Israel 'on the shelf' and increase exposure, Europe-wide, of Israel as a tourist destination. Selling Israel tourism packages in Carrefour supermarkets takes advantage of existing marketing platforms with a wide reach throughout Europe and the world."
Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevi said, "There are several advantages to this mass market approach: Targeted selling of Israel in the largest chain in France will also open doors to competing chains that have, until now, hesitated. Israel will remain 'on the shelf' at Carrefour throughout the year, even after the campaign ends.
"I believe that briefing the chain's salespeople about Israel will contribute to the sales of Israel vacation packages, both within Carrefour and beyond."
