Tourists in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand often travel around towing campers (also called “caravans”) that serve as a secure overnight “motel” hitched to a rented vehicle.

International-standard campers only became available for hire in Israel a couple of years ago. Tourists are starting to discover that they can rent a caravan in the Holy Land and park overnight at any of several dozen private and public campgrounds from north to south. Many of them are brand new, and others are in development.

For large families, this style of touring can be cheaper than hotels, but saving money is not the point. It’s a way of seeing and exploring a country in a different way — being close to the beauty of nature and able to choose your rest stops and overnight landscape in the comfort of your own “home on the road.”

“Why didn’t this beautiful option exist in Israel — the perfect place to tour with motor homes and caravans? The answer is regulation,” explains Eran Nitzan, who was director of infrastructure and investment at the Tourism Ministry in December 2012, when the ministry and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority introduced imported international-standard caravans for hire at an event in Ein Hemed National Park.

“It was impossible to sell or rent the vehicles from a business point of view,” Nitzan tells ISRAEL21c. “So we worked with the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Finance and found a way to encourage this field by deregulating the taxes and licensing.”

He predicted that many tourists will be opting to explore Israel from north to south this way. “There is a huge sector in the tourist field of millions of people who travel by caravan,” he said.

The next advance, coming soon, will be motor homes to rent. (via Israel21c)

[Photo: Israel Nachmany / YouTube ]