June 3, 2012

For the first time, the French National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Wild and Voyage channel are rolling out a new documentary series on Israel. The series, developed with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, will be named Visages d’Israël (The Faces of Israel) and will introduce popular tourist spots in Israel.

Filming is already underway. Some of the places included on the production schedule include Acre (Acco), the Galilee area and Sea of Galilee, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Masada, the Negev and Eilat.

The show will highlight Israel’s nature, travel, culture, history and entertainment scenes.

Karine Lima, one of the most recognized journalists in France, will host the series. The series is being produced by Ananey Communications.

“We are proud to continually produce high-quality international series, and to continue our cooperation with the French travel channel and National Geographic. We believe that the best way to market Israel to the world is through high quality television content, and we’re sure that each French viewer experiencing Israel as shown in the series, will want to come and visit for himself,” said Sharon Lemberger, CEO of Lifestyle channels at Ananey Communications, and Sigal Sheldag, Director of International Operations.

The new series will air over four-hour episodes from September 2012 on leading French and European channels, and is expected to reach about 5.2 million households. In Israel, the series will also air on the Travel Channel and the Good Life Channel.

“France is the third largest source country for incoming tourism, with about 300,000 tourists arriving every year from France. To increase this number, the Ministry of Tourism has decided to turn to new audiences and introduce them to different aspects in Israel which they have not been exposed to in the past,” said Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov. “We believe that the series will contribute to Israel’s exposure all over Europe as a first-class tourist destination.”

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