He scouted out hiking and jeep tour routes, including visiting an ancient well that is used by Bedouin shepherds today. Next to the well is a stone enclosure for sheep and goats.
“This actual well could have been used by Amos the Prophet,” he says, standing at the well on a recent Friday morning, as a Bedouin man grazed a flock of sheep and goats in the distance. “We don’t know for sure but we do know that it’s at least 2,000 years old.”
His desert tours are experiential, including meditation and even some loud yelling in the desert to release stress. He had several North American groups booked for March and April, and was optimistic that his business would take off.
“As soon as the pandemic started, my business went cold – to zero,” he says. “Then as things opened up I decided that I would continue posting and fill my social media channels with pictures and video to connect with my audience and build the story of my company. So from Facebook and Instagram, it looks like business is booming.”
The Israel Incoming Tourist Guide Association says there are 25,000 small tourism businesses with between one and 10 employees, including tour guides. Hundreds demonstrated in May, calling for more government help. Israel hosted a record-breaking 4.55 million tourists in 2019, and there were hopes that the number would increase even more in 2020. But until the pandemic began in March, there were just 50,000 tourists in Israel, and since the pandemic began, and Israel closed its gates to anyone without Israeli citizenship, it has dried up completely.
Kobi Abelman became a licensed tour guide four years ago after a 28-year career in banking.
“I was building the business up slowly, but I had six weeks booked pretty solid from Purim (in mid-March), and I had a lot of inquiries for the spring and summer,” he says. “At first I thought I would be able to keep half of those bookings, but it was all gone. Luckily my wife works full time.”
Abelman has started to offer tours to the English-speaking Israeli public as a way of both making a little money and keeping up his skills.
He admits that not working for so long has taken a toll.
“I have definitely put on a little weight, being around the house and not walking around while working,” he says. “We don’t even see the grandchildren much.”
He says that so far, he hasn’t received much aid from the government.
Other tour operators like Elisa Moed of Traveljuah, a 12-year-old tour company which focuses on the Christian market, are also suffering. Moed says she lost $3.6 million in business in planned tours for 2020 and 2021, and she says that so far, the government has fallen short.
“I am very dissatisfied. We did not receive any money at all from the government so far,” she says. “In the first quarter alone, (March 2020) we lost over $350,000 in canceled tours for that specific period. We’ve also not received anything for unrealized tours during the entire second quarter.”
Some tour guides have begun offering online tours for tourists who are not able to make their planned trip to Israel, or who just want to learn more about sites in Israel. Shuli Mishkin was one of the first to offer these virtual tours.
“I have moved almost completely online,” she says. “On the first day the lockdown started I decided I needed, for my own sanity as well as to keep people connected to Israel, to write. I started doing a daily Facebook post about Israel: history, culture, nature, songs, whatever felt interesting and relevant. This got a great response, although no money.
“About two months ago, I started to create virtual tours and have been doing several a week. These are rarely me out in the field with a video camera but rather picture heavy lectures about places and themes all over Israel: Safed, Biblical Archaeology, the Mount of Olives and many more.”
As of now, it looks like tourism will not come back soon, and some tour guides are thinking of a way to use their knowledge to re-brand.
“I am considering different possibilities where I can leverage my business consulting experience, tourism expertise and experience working with Jewish donors and Christian organizations,” Moed says. “However, I very much believe in the inherent need that people have to educate, entertain and gain personal experience by engaging with different cultures through travel. Israel is such an important part of peoples’ faith and life and I very much enjoy bringing Israel to life for my clients.”
Back in Tekoa, Feiglin sits under a eucalyptus tree and ponders the future of his business. He’s changed his business to try to appeal to the Israeli market – offering camping trips outdoors. But he admits, he’s not making much money.
“Tourists come here with a budget and they want to burn through the money – they’re happy to eat at a restaurant three times a day,” he says. “For Israelis, it’s different. Money is very tight and people are hurting. At the same time, I can’t have big groups because of all of the regulations. So the main reason to run my business is just to stay in the game.”