This year in Jerusalem!

We’d like to be among the first tour groups to return to the Land, with the hope of being an encouragement to our friends and the people of Israel. 

Jerry and I are especially excited about leading this 2024 Tour to the Holy Land.  This trip will have upscale accommodations and we expect guests to enjoy an enhance itinerary that would appeal to first--timers and those that have already been to Israel before.

We’ve been coordinating tour groups to Israel since 1996 and Israel is the one place we tell everyone they should go at least once.  This year’s trip will be special in that we its a great time of year and there will be very tourists at the same time. We also know our presence will be an encouragement to our friends and other Israelis. We cannot imagine what their life has been like since the October 7th attack by Hamas. We know guides who have not worked at all, families that have just returned to their homes after having to live as “evacuees” for 5 months. We’ve got friends who have 3 adult children who were all called to active duty and in some cases they and their spouses have been called to serve by caring for their grandchildren full-time. 

The current situation is tragic, but sadly Israelis have lived with unrest and conflict for years. Every year we’ve taken groups, since 1996, there was some conflict or unrest in the country, be it bus bombs, suicide bombers, rockets from Gaza, uprisings, Covid-19 and now the war with Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north.  We always warn each group before we travel to expect something to happen and make the news causing their friends and family to question their decision to go to Israel at all and yet we’ve never had any of our groups get there and not feel safe while in Israel.

Many of you or your friends think that now given all that’s going on. We realize most people will not want to go this year but we ask you to consider it for several reasons.

1. A lot will happen between now and November. We expect level of conflict to be much less if not ceased by then.

2. Many of the groups that had to cancel their trips last fall and this spring are already rescheduling their tours for 2025 and 2026 which will make it hard to get reservations for a couple of years.

3. We took a very small group in November 2021, the first month tourists could freely travel to Israel after Covid. The weather was beautiful and the sites were empty. We saw more sites in a short trip simply because there were almost no visitors besides us.

4. The Israelis were blessed and appreciative by our presence. In 2002-03 we couldn’t travel to Israel because of the uprising known as the 2nd Intifada. We were one of the first groups to return in 2004. We were met at the airport with roses as a thank you and grandmothers stopped us on the streets of Jerusalem to thanks us for believing in Israel and coming back.

5. If it becomes unsafe to travel then we will cancel the trip and be able to return to you all but $200 of your payments. If our tour operator in Israel, Sar-El Tours, believes we will be at risk they will advise us not to come.  We’ve trusted them for over 25 years to advise us. I trust them to advise us to the best of their ability this year as well.  But we all know there are no guarantees. Not there, nor even here at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas. 

Jerry and I would love to take even a small group of 20 or more people who would like to join us. We are promoting this tour based on conversations with Sar-El Tours knowing that they have had other tourist and solidarity groups as of this writing, March 2024, return without incident.  However, we all recognize, there is no certainty that things will continue as they are today.  Should the conflict in Israel increase to where it is again not considered safe for American tourists to visit or if US domestic carriers, such as American or United Airlines, stop flying to Tel Aviv, as they did in October 2023 and March 2020, we will advise the group and cancel the tour. 

In the event that Baird Tours or Sar-El Tours deem it necessary to cancel this tour due to safety concerns or should the Israeli Government close the country to tourists or the airlines stop flying in to Tel Aviv, then the only monies you will risk would be a $100 administrative fee payable to Sar-El Tours and another $100 administrative fee payable to Baird Tours.  For Baird Tours these monies would help offset non-refundable credit card processing fees.

We also encourage everyone to buy Trip Cancellation and Travel Insurance to use in the event you have to cancel for your own reasons. We recommend travel insurance for all our guests since 2020 regardless of where they are traveling.  Just like car insurance, if you need travel insurance, it is well worth the cost. It covers you in the event you have to cancel for your own reasons such as injury, illness or a death in the family. You can be reimbursed for out of pocket expenditures plus these policies typically include coverage for trip interruption, trip delays, lost luggage, medical, dental, medical transfers, death benefits and much more.  When buying travel insurance, be careful to note whether the insurance policy/provider covers terrorism and war.  Some insurance providers do include one or both and some do not. 

We hope some of you will be interested in going with us and being encouragers. We also understand completely if you’re not ready.  We are available to answer any of your questions any time both now and up to November 10, 2024. 

Lord willing…This year in Jerusalem!

In Israel we’ll…

• Walk up the steps where Jesus walked as He entered the Temple in Jerusalem

• Sit on the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount overlooking the Sea of Galilee

• Imagine the young boy as he watched Jesus take his two fish and five loaves of bread and feed more than 5,000 people

• Take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee and reflect on how the disciples must have felt as the storm rose on those same waters

• Stand on the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and later ascended to the heavens

We’ll experience all of this and so much more!

Optional Jordan Extension
November 21-25, 2024