以色列大力发展中国旅游市场

 　　The Israeli government, still reeling from a drop-off in visitors following last summer’s war with Gaza, is betting on China to jump-start the nation’s flagging tourism industry.

　　去年夏天加沙地带的战争导致前往以色列的游客人数骤减，至今仍未恢复，以色列政府现在把赌注押在中国身上，试图启动该国萎靡不振的旅游业。

　　While visits to Israel from the United States and Europe have plummeted¹ by almost 20 percent since the conflict, Chinese tourism is up by 30 percent, because of a flurry of investments by the Israeli Tourism Ministry² to make Chinese visitors feel welcome.

　　自去年夏天的冲突以来，前往以色列的欧美游客骤减了20%，但中国旅客增加了30%，因为以色列旅游部为招揽他们进行了一系列投资。

　　In January, the Tourism Ministry opened a Chinese-language course for its licensed³ guides and announced that it was in talks with Hainan Airlines, the largest privately⁴ owned Chinese air carrier, to begin three nonstop flights a week between Beijing and Tel Aviv. Israel’s El Al airlines currently has a monopoly on Beijing-Tel Aviv flights, so an agreement with Hainan Airlines, which Israel hopes to finalize⁵ by the end of 2015, will bring price competition to the route.

　　今年1月，旅游部为持牌导游开设了中国语言课程，并宣布它正在与中国最大的私营航空公司海南航空磋商，每周在北京和特拉维夫之间开设三个直飞航班。目前北京到特拉维夫的航班由以色列艾拉航空公司(El Al)垄断，所以如果与海南航空达成协议，就会给这条航线引入价格竞争机制。以色列希望与海南航空在2015年底敲定这项协议。

　　The ministry is also wooing Chinese celebrities⁶ to its shores — in 2014, the Chinese blockbuster “Old Cinderella” filmed a number of scenes in Israel after receiving a 500,000-shekel investment (about $135,600) from the Israeli government, and the Chinese actor Liu Ye was hosted by the Tourism Ministry and deemed a Tourism Good Will Ambassador.

　　旅游部还邀请中国名人前往以色列海滨——2014年，中国大片《脱轨时代》得到了以色列政府的50万谢克尔（约80万人民币）投资，在以色列取景拍摄，旅游部还款待了中国演员刘烨，让其担任旅游亲善大使。

　　The private tourism sector⁷ is also angling for Chinese visitors: This month the David InterContinental Tel Aviv hotel will become the first in Israel to offer Mandarin-speaking staffers, two Mandarin-language TV channels in guest rooms and Chinese food options at their lush breakfast buffet¹⁰.

　　私营旅游部门也在积极争取中国游客：本月，特拉维夫大卫洲际酒店(David Inter⁸ Continental⁹ Tel Aviv)将成为以色列第一家提供普通话工作人员的酒店，客房里拥有两个普通话电视频道，丰盛的自助早餐中包含中国食品。

　　Israel’s tourism minister, Yariv Levin, said that he is working to ease visa requirements for incoming tourists from China and to build partnerships¹¹ with Chinese tour operators.

　　以色列旅游部长雅里夫·莱文(Yariv Levin)说，他正在设法放宽对中国游客的签证要求，并与中国旅游运营商建立合作伙伴关系。

　　“The State of Israel attaches great importance to incoming tourism from China, and as a result, the Tourism Ministry intends to place special emphasis on China as a developing market,” he said.

　　“以色列国十分看重来自中国的旅游业务，因此，旅游部打算把中国作为一个发展中市场予以特别重视，”他说。

1 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

4 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

5 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 inter   

v.埋葬

参考例句：

• They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
• The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。

9 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

10 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

11 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句