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Onward, Christian touristsAmerican Jewish immigrant launches Travelujah, a website for a new wave of Christianpilgrims who want to ditch the tour-group scene.By Allison Kaplan Sommer | Jun.22, 2012 | 5:22 AM

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Elisa Moed, originally from Detroit, immigrated to Israel in 2005. Photo by Courtesy

A phone call from the Vatican isn't a typical source of inspiration for anAmerican Jewish immigrant to Israel. But for Elisa Moed, it was a callfrom the Israeli representative of the Holy See that sparked her to createthe website Travelujah - an Internet venture aimed at Christian touristsplanning a visit to the Holy Land.

With years of experience as a corporate consultant specializing in new andemerging tourist destinations, Moed - a Detroit native now in her 40s - gotthe call six months after she moved to Ra'anana in 2005. The CatholicChurch owned a piece of land in the Galilee and was interested in buildinga guesthouse there, and it wanted to hire Moed as a consultant to researchits commercial potential.

As Moed worked on the project, delving into the topic of Christian tourismto Israel and the surrounding destinations thatcomprise "the Holy Land," two things became clear.First, she saw that the potential for dramaticallyincreasing the number of Christians visiting the regionwas tremendous. Second, she understood from herresearch that there was a real need for a single,comprehensive, updated source of information on theweb where potential Christian pilgrims could find andshare information necessary to make the trip.

"I thought that if I was having trouble navigating somany websites in order to find the relevant

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information I wanted, I could only imagine howfrustrating it would be for an individual or a pastorliving in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was interested inplanning their own Holy Land tour," says Moed."That's when I got the idea of creating a one-stop shopfor dedicated Christian resources for people like them."

Travelujah is a content-oriented site focusedexclusively on Christian tourism to the Holy Land.What sets the three-year-old site apart from otheronline destinations, according to Moed, is her decisionto make it as interactive as possible, and her aim tocreate a "dynamic community" of travelers who can getadvice and tips not only from travel operators andexperts, but from each other.

This particular segment of tourists, according to Moed, is made up ofextremely careful shoppers. "Coming to Israel on a faith-based journey isnot an impulsive purchase. It is something people dream about for yearsand they want to plan their experience carefully," she says.

A wiry, athletic mother of four, Moed lives with a foot in two worlds. Afterseven years in Ra'anana, she and her family are well-absorbed intomainstream Jewish suburban life in Israel. But she feels just ascomfortable interacting with Christians, she says, easily speaking theirlanguage as she discusses how they "share blessings," "experiencefellowship" and "feel God's spirit."

Moed's ability to navigate between cultures began early. Growing up inDetroit, there were few Jews in her school, she says, and she celebratedChristmas and Easter at her friends' homes. Yet her family was deeplyJewish and Zionist.

It was while traveling in Israel that Moed first became inspired to go intotourism. After living and working in Israel after college, she decided toreturn to the United States to get a master's degree in the hospitalityindustry, with an eye toward moving back to Israel and working in hotels.But then she began her international consulting career, which took her toEurope, Asia and the Caribbean. Finally, "20 years later than I planned,"she laughs, she made the move to Israel.

With her experience, it didn't take much research for her to see that Israel"hasn't scratched the surface" of its ability to develop the Christian marketfor tourism. There are 1.5 billion Christians worldwide and only a tinyfraction of them have ever made a pilgrimage, according to Moed.

Over the last several years, faith-based travel to destinations worldwide,including Israel, has grown significantly, she says. In 2004, Israelwelcomed 440,000 Christian tourists, Moed says, and by 2011, 2.3 millionChristians visited Israel, representing an annual growth rate of more than26 percent. The Internet has also multiplied the number of Christianstraveling independently to the Holy Land. And these independenttravelers, says Moed, are her target audience for Travelujah. Users can usethe site to book a full tour or several day-trips, and it has a reservationssystem for 36 Christian-run guesthouses across the country. Referral feesfor these services, together with advertising, support the business.

David Parsons, media director of the International Christian Embassy inJerusalem, notes that until Travelujah came on the scene, the majority ofChristian tourism sites catered to the Catholic and Orthodox market, withpictures of ornate churches and audio clips of Gregorian chants andhymns. "This wouldn't sell to the Evangelical market, which has thegreatest growth potential for tourism to Israel these days," Parsons says."Elisa is doing a good job of presenting a site that welcomes Catholics,Orthodox and Evangelicals."

Travelujah encourages its users to create blogs where visitors can sharetheir experiences. During the Feast of Tabernacles celebrations, forexample, pilgrims posted photos and reports to friends and family backhome. "This," Moed says, "adds value to their visit and helps us spread theword and attract visitors for the next year's celebration."

"People are looking for something beyond the traditional pilgrimage," sheadds, "so it really helps them when other pilgrims describe their trips and

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COMMENTS

offer advice."

David Nekrutman, executive director of the Center for Jewish ChristianUnderstanding and Cooperation, an Orthodox Jewish organization thatpromotes outreach to Christians, says the site's most valuablecontributions are its "insider's view" of what to expect from certain sites,and its social media aspects which offer suggestions for "outside-the-box"activities - particularly those that include opportunities to meet Israelis.

"Christian tourism in its current form is lacking in opportunities forinteraction," Nekrutman notes. "People can come and visit the land andnot relate to the people. The website sends the message that Israel is avibrant society and ... offers them the opportunity to learn how to meet thepeople and get more than the typical template tour."

So what exactly is standing in the way of the millions of potential Christianpilgrims of various denominations? The biggest roadblock, Moed says, isexpense, followed by security concerns and nervousness regarding thelogistics of moving between Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt andJordan. She addresses all of these issues on Travelujah, and works incooperation with vendors in various countries to smooth the way forChristian tourists. This, she emphasizes, benefits Israel as much as it doesPalestinians: If Christian pilgrims can't get the full Holy Land experience,they likely aren't going to come at all, she says.

"Faith tourism spurs cooperation between Israel and its neighbors," Moedsays. "We must work together to satisfy the needs of Christian travelersseeking to visit the Holy Land and see biblical sites in Israel, thePalestinian territories, Jordan and Egypt. Creating a successful tourismstrategy requires cooperation."

With all due respect to campaigns marketing Israel as a pleasuredestination, Moed says she firmly believes that sun and fun are not thecountry's greatest assets if it truly wants to dramatically develop itstourism industry. "Look, Christians are not visiting because of ourbeautiful beaches," she says. "There are many nice beaches in many othercountries that are a lot more affordable. Our unique selling point as adestination is our biblical history, that this is the land of our forefathers;the fact that this is where Jesus spent his lifetime. It's something no othercountry in the world can claim. If you want to really understand the rootsof Christianity and walk in the footsteps of Jesus, you have to come toIsrael. That's where we stand out."

Travelujah can be visited at www.travelujah.com

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