About us
Amiel Tours was founded in 1976 by Mr. Chuzi Amiel as a family-owned company, for incoming tourism to Israel. Mr. Oni Amiel continues at the company’s helm with the same spirit and dedication to professionalism instilled in him by his father, Chuzi. Oni’s three children are working at Amiel Tours as well; each contributing in his/her own capacity.
As a pioneering tour operator in Israel, we constantly strive to improve and share the newest attractions, tourist sites and comfortable accommodations with you, in order to deliver the greatest possible client experience. We bring forward our vision of combining emotional experiences with topnotch operational capabilities to create one-of-a-kind moments that resonate for a lifetime.
We specialize in tailor-made programs for groups, individuals, pilgrims, special interest tours, culture and study tours, MICE and so more. We at Amiel understand what individuals and groups need when traveling to Israel; a network of support is at your service with reliable and top-quality client service each step of the way. The company has grown in the past few years to around 120 employees in order to provide the service our clients deserve.
Our FIT department maintains a progressive online booking system (B2B) which offers you the opportunity to book hotels, transfers, car rentals, domestic flights, packages and VIP Airport services. Our system is easy to use and is backed up by an experienced and skilled team who is happy to serve and assist you and your clients when you need personal support.
We are the only operator in Israel with its own service representatives throughout the country in places such as Ben Gurion Airport, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and Eilat. Consequently, from the moment your clients arrive in Israel our staff is at their service 24/7. Our guides are all licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and are personally chosen by Amiel Tours based on their experience, their interpersonal skills, and their ability to speak a foreign language.
Our aim is to create wonderful memories for millions of tourists, continually crafting innovative programs that combine historical sites, emotional faith experiences, beautiful landscapes and local culture with a sense of purpose.
We make it memorable!
Amiel: A Story of a Family
In the summer 1839 the Amiel’s set out from Casablanca to Jaffa on a journey of faith and deliverance, in a boat that also carried the boxes of bones – the remains of Jews from Morocco, to be reinterred on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. This was the start of one family’s return from exile to the Holy Land, of which their fathers and forefathers had dreamed and for which they had prayed for generations.
These replanted roots, the culmination of a 2000 year-old yearning, were the beginning of this special story in the holy land, a story containing hardships and turns of fortune. Settling first in Jaffa and then in what is now Tel Aviv’s Neve Tzedek neighborhood, the Amiel’s were expelled by the Turkish Ottoman government, and for five years the family lived in Alexandria, Egypt; following the defeat of the Turks by the British, the family returned to the Land of Israel. Interestingly, Amiel Tours founder Eliahu Amiel z”l (1927-2016), known as Chuzi to all, was one of the first Israelis to visit Egypt after the peace agreement with Israel in 1979, where he located the grave of his grandfather, Eliahu Amiel, who had passed away in Alexandria during this mini expulsion.
Moshe, Chuzi’s own father, had played a modest role in the British efforts during the First World War, serving as a sergeant in the Mule Corps and fighting in the famous Battle of Gallipoli. Later Moshe Amiel served in the Public Work Department, paving roads through the land that would be Israel, and Chuzi fondly recalls these days of going to work with his father as the spark that ignited his own love for the land. Chuzi grew up to serve in the famed Palmach (the paramilitary armed forces of pre-state Israel) taking part in the battles for Safed and its surroundings.
Irit Amiel was born in Poland in 1931 as Irena Librowicz. She survived World War II in the Czestochowa ghetto, using false Aryan papers. Via illegal routes (through displaced persons camps in Germany, Italy and Cyprus), she managed to reach Palestine in 1947. Named Irit – “Irena, the name I was given at birth, died in the Holocaust and when I came to Israel, Irit was born,” – she met Chuzi while both took part in establishing Palmachim, a new kibbutz on the seashore. They were kibbutz members for three years before leaving. Later they married and the roots of the proud Sephardic Amiel family from Morocco and of his bride from Poland became eternally intertwined.
It was not only with Irit, however, that Chuzi fell in love. In the 1950’s the local bus cooperative where he worked had just received three brand new, red tourist buses, and Chuzi adored them so much that he just had to be one of the drivers. As one thing lead to another, as Chuzi the bus driver began working with tourism, then became a tour guide, and in turn a tour operator, a department head in a tour agency and, in 1976 he founded his own company, Amiel Tours. In moving so smoothly and quickly up the ladder of success, Chuzi also served as a model for many others of a similar background in Israel’s fledging tourism industry and as proof that hard work and dedication would be rewarded. Since those days, Amiel Tours has gone from strength to strength, as Chuzi passed on the management torch to his son, Oni, the fifth generation of Amiels fortunate enough to live in the Land of Israel, the land of our ancestors.
The State of Israel too has recognized Amiel Tours contribution to the tourism industry; Chuzi was selected by the Ministry of Tourism as its “Man of the Year” in 1996, and in 2000 he was honored for “A Lifetime Achievement Award” for work done in tourism by the President of the State of Israel. In addition, Amiel Tours has been a nine-time recipient of the “Distinguished Tourist Operator Award” for all the work it has done in the promotion and expansion of the tourism trade in Israel.
Today, the company is led by Mr. Oni Amiel with the same spirit and dedication to professionalism instilled in him by his father, Chuzi. A licensed tour guide, Oni has been active in the tourism industry since 1973, establishing Shalom Israel Reisen in Germany as a tour operator for outgoing tours to Israel. He has been at the helm of Amiel Tours and its subsidiaries since 1986, taking over as director and CEO from his father, Chuzi Amiel, in 2000. Oni brings with him his special vision of tourism as Zionism, a principle which is put well into practice in hiring Olim and giving them a first “home” in Israel, as well as in Amiel’s work with Federations and Jewish groups from around the world. Oni’s Zionism is also manifest in his continuing to volunteer in the IDF reserves as a Special Operations Major. Truly a family company, two of Oni’s children also work at Amiel Tours, establishing the newest generation in the business.
In 2016 Amiel Tours celebrates four memorable decades as one of Israel’s premier tour operators as it develops hand in hand with this young, dynamic country.
Create and deliver one-of-a-kind experiences that become lifelong memories
Amiel is a pioneering tour operator that offers outstanding travel experiences filled with unique and unforgettable moments.
For over 40 years, we have had the privilege to create wonderful memories for over a million tourists, continually crafting new programs that combine historical sites, roots of faith, beautiful landscapes and local culture with a sense of purpose.
Our Values:
UNIQUENESS
DILIGENCE
CURIOSITY
MEMORABILITY
PURPOSE
PEOPLE
Management
Marketing & Sales
Americas & Asia Team
North America Premium Travel
Europe Team
Accounting
Experienced Tour Operator:
Job Description:
The position includes operation, logistic and administration for groups and singles coming from abroad to visit Israel; building itineraries, coordinating with suppliers in Israel, quotations, problem solving and keeping close contact with the agents abroad.
Requirements:
- Fluent both in written and speaking in English.
- Additional language skills are a big plus (German, Italian, Spanish).
- Basic Hebrew is acceptable.
- Experience in the tourism industry- a must!
Your tasks:
- Getting to know Israel (routes, sites, parks, hotels etc…).
- You must be responsible, passionate about assisting customers, multi-tasking, self-motivated, detail oriented, good oral and written skills, and full computer literacy.
**The position is full time at our office in Or Yehuda.
Please send your CV to Sharonj@amiel.israel.net
Tour Planner expert in MICE travel
Job Description:
The position includes building of creative itineraries and offers for incentive tours, conferences and events for large groups; operation, logistic and administration for groups coming from abroad; inspection tours, coordinating with suppliers in Israel, building complex quotations, problem solving and keeping close contact with the agents abroad.
Requirements:
- Fluent both in written and speaking in English.
- Experience with High end clients
- Great people skills and Service Oriented
- Ability to make quotes and build creative touring programs
- PowerPoint skilled
- Additional language skills are a big plus (German, Italian, French, Spanish).
- Basic Hebrew is acceptable.
- Experience in the tourism industry- minimum 3 years
- Experience in producing conferences and events -a must!
Your tasks:
- Getting to know Israel (venues, routes, sites, parks, hotels etc…).
- You must be responsible, passionate about assisting customers, multi-tasking, self-motivated, detail oriented, good oral and written skills, and full computer literacy.
**The position is full time at our office in Or Yehuda.
Please send your CV to Sharonj@amiel.israel.net