WITH the Negev Desert stretching from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea and beyond, covering 60% of the country, Israel offers plenty for the active-minded tourist.
Yet few operators offer clients the chance to pre-book adventure holidays, preferring instead to highlight the activities bookable in resort.
These are available mainly from Eilat, sandwiched between the desert and the Red Sea. Visitors can spend one day exploring the wadis and mountains of the desert by jeep, camel or quad bike – the latter is a very dusty experience – and another scuba diving to see the colourful fish and coral of the Red Sea.
Most of Israel’s specialist operators offer pre-bookable diving packages for beginners and experienced divers.
But only Superstar and AMG Travel offer packages that give visitors more time to explore the desert.
“The Desert Trailblazer is not a big seller, but it brings extra business and not just from young people,” said Superstar manager Lee Silverman.
“We have had clients ranging in age from 20s to 50s. It is not arduous, but it is very basic and clients spend one night under canvas.”
AMG Travel’s five-day camel trek was featured on the BBC holiday programme Fasten Your Seat Belts in June last year, when Toyah Wilcox sampled the product.
AMG manager Dawn Shindler said the actress and former pop star loved it, but emphasised the holiday is arduous and will not appeal to older clients. Target market is 20 to 40-year-olds.