Triangle of Trade markets Israeli products

in effort to offset tourism drop

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

BROOKLINE - As if we didn’t already know, Israel has a tourism problem. The Jerusalem Post recently reported a 50 percent drop over the past year. Even though U.S. citizens represented the largest source of visitors (266,000, or over 20 percent), their count was down 45 percent as well.

Because Jeremy Poock didn’t want to sit idly by, he formed the Triangle of Trade, Inc., a company which focuses on offering Israeli products as fundraising opportunities for non-profits. Currently, it specializes in Dead Sea body products.

“Considering that the vast majority of tourists return from Israel with Dead Sea products,” says Poock, a 27-year-old Brookline attorney by trade, “we have focused on these premier Israeli goods under our motto, ‘Bringing Israel Into Our Communities’.”

By offering non-profits the opportunity to fundraise $3 to $9 or more per unit, Triangle of Trade can help organizations to raise thousands of dollars, while at the same time, directly assist Israel’s struggling economy.

“I have always sought a way to bring Israel into my professional life,” says Poock. “Following the advice of a friend and an experience by my rabbi, I created the Triangle of Trade, Inc., with its goals of assisting Israel’s tourism industry and fostering good will for the State of Israel, by marketing several of its most successful and popular products.”

There are four types of fundraising models at present: One is “Ongoing Sales,” where TOT’s products are marketed “as the equivalent to Girl Scout cookies,” according to Poock. Another is “Holiday Sales,” for Passover, Israeli Independence Day, Rosh HaShanah, etc.. In “Incentive Sales,” non-profits offer TOT’s Israeli gifts in appreciation for donations, and finally “Gift Sales” work at gala events and conferences.

But dollar value is only part of Poock’s objective equation. “Beyond economics,” he says, “our products also garner good will for Israel. Whereas the daily media portrays Israel through the myopic lens of the Arab-Israeli conflict, we see our role as widening that lens to allow our communities to directly experience and celebrate Israel on an ongoing basis.

“Certainly,” he says, “CJP and JCRC deserve much credit for leading the country with solidarity mission participation. But, what if we could expand 200 people experiencing Israel on a given mission to 2,000 or 10,000 or more, right here at home? The Boston community does so every year at our Israeli Independence Day celebration [this year, at the Esplanade on June 9]. But, could, should we do more? In a global economy, we do not have to limit the scope of experiencing Israel to the country’s geographic parameters.”

Poock’s plans are expansive. “Within the next several weeks,” he says, “we plan to introduce an array of gift packs filled with Israeli items for various occasions. We are excited about bringing them to our communities because of the pride and excitement people experience when they see the ‘Made in Israel’ label. We expect these items to appear at various retail and food stores, as well as in gift shops.”

“Israel clearly needs our help right now, and we believe that our fundraisers and gift packs offer a unique means for our communities to celebrate Israel and show our support for our Jewish brothers and sisters living in the Jewish homeland.”

TOT also plans to approach national and international non-profits, and to offer sales of their Israeli gift packs over the internet. They are currently upgrading their website, www.triangleoftrade.com, and can be contacted at 617-285-3325, or by emailing jpoock@TriangleofTrade.com.

When you include information about the TRIANGLE OF TRADE, Inc., in the Brookline Buzz, offer body care products?

We focus more on offering fundraising opportunities with our products

than reaching out to retail stores

SO - no retail info in the JA article

Company Information

The TRIaNGLE OF TRaDE, INC., (www.triangleoftrade.com) based in Brookline, MA, and led by Brookline resident Jeremy Poock, seeks to increase the scope of participation by our communities to tangibly assist Israel during this difficult period of its history. According to Israel’s Tourism Ministry, more than 1,000,000 less tourists visited Israel in 2001 than in 2000. (See, “Tourism Down More Than 50% Last Year,” Jerusalem Post, Jan. 23, 2002). Though this statistic certainly draws empathy, we view it as a call to action.

Tourism down more than 50% last year

By Haim Shapiro

(January 23) - A total of 1,218,400 visitors entered the country last year, less than half the number who visited in 2000 and only 100,000 more than came in 1991, the Tourism Ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics announced yesterday.

The number included 1,195,600 who came for a prolonged stay (51 percent fewer than in 2000) and 22,800 who arrived on cruise ships (a drop of 90%). Of those who came for longer stays, 1,060,200 were air passengers, a drop of 46%. They included 66,800 who came on direct flights to Eilat, down 53%.

Some 129,500 arrived by land, including 67,600 from Jordan (a drop of 75%) and 61,900 (down 61%) from Egypt via Eilat border crossing.

As in previous years, the US continued to be the source of the largest number of tourists, some 266,000, or more than 20%. There were, however, 45% fewer visitors from the US. Some 140,000 tourists came from the UK, a drop of 30%. From France, there were 129,000, a drop of 36%, and 65,000 arrived from Germany, down 63%. Tourists from Russia totalled 56,000, a decline of 25%.

The greatest drops came from primarily Roman Catholic countries, which in 2000 had shown significant increases in the number of tourists, both because of the millennium and on account of the visit of Pope John Paul II. There were 25,000 visitors from Italy, 85% fewer, 13,000 from Poland, down 69%, and 12,000 from Spain, down 69%.

The ministry noted there was less of a drop from countries which have significant Jewish populations, such as the US, UK, and France, than there was from countries from which the bulk of the tourists are Christian pilgrims.

The statistics for the month of December show there were 81,500 visitors, 26% less than during the same month the previous year. The ministry noted that after adjustments for seasonal variations, there was a slight improvement compared to the drop been registered following the terror attacks in the US on September 11.