The Tourist Trap

October 29, 2007 - 3:30 PM by

Occasionally we here in Israel read stories about merchants ripping off tourists.

Being a country that relies heavily on the tourist trade and all, there’s bound to be off-color behavior now and again.

What’s the delectable pick-of-the-day current story?

That merchants in Jerusalem’s Old City and the environs are sticking it to innocent travelers. How bad is it, you ask?

**Shekel to dollar rate: $1 U.S. dollar = 4 Israeli shekels **

Tourist: 15 shekels for bottled water; 3 sheks for locals
Tourist: 170 ” ” for a cab from the Kotel to central Jerusalem; 40 for locals
Tourist: 70 shekels for a knit kippah ; NIS 10 for locals
Tourist: 30 shekels for a fridge magnet; NIS 10 for locals
Tourist: 40 shekels for a felafel in pita (!!!); NIS 10 for locals

That will be JUST ENOUGH of that, thieving fools. You want people to stay away?

Visitors: Don’t be ashamed to price check cab and other rates with a hotel concierge, to demand that the cabbie put on the meter or to ask vendors if you’re being charged the “tourist” rate.

Shameful.

Tags: • Category: Crime, Israeliness, Travel 

Comments

5 Comments on The Tourist Trap

  1. Angie on Mon, Oct 29th 2007 7:25 PM

    2. I was in Israel this summer and feel like I was charged all of the local rates regardless of where I was. It really wasnt bad at all. And the fool who pays $10 for a falafel has it coming..

  2. David-Joe on Tue, Oct 30th 2007 4:33 AM

    3. Angie – just because a merchant sees they can overcharge someone does not make it a moral thing to do.

    To me, doing so, just has something disgusting about it. Maybe its my kibbutz upbringing.

    They have a price and ought to adhere to it regardless who the customer is.

    In the Israel of my youth, it really did not happen. Unfortunately once materialism becomes a virtue rather than a secondary entity, money becomes a god and people lose their morality.

  3. Darnell Clayton on Wed, Oct 31st 2007 5:41 AM

    4. Hopefully the government cracks down on this. Israel relies heavily on tourism, and many tourists (especially in the states) usually have many options to choose from.

    Getting ripped off in one country tends to put it on the “banned for life” list…for life. :-(

  4. Dan on Thu, Nov 1st 2007 5:01 PM

    5. This goes on everywhere. There was an article in the NYT this past summer about how in Rome it is standard practice in restaurants to have one menu for Romans and another menu for tourists (even from other parts of Italy!). I remember visiting the aquairium in Eilat about ten years ago and seeing the admission printed above the ticket counters in English and then in small Hebrew letters below, written “hanachah l’yisraelim.” I tried speaking Hebrew at the ticket window, but my American accent gave me away and got stuck with the much higher admission.

  5. Dan on Thu, Nov 1st 2007 5:09 PM

    6. On the same topic, on another trip in the late 90s, I tried taking a taxi from the Israel Museum to the Jaffa Gate. A couple of cabs were lined up outside the Museum’s entrance. The first driver refused to turn on the meter so I got out and tried the next taxi in line. Obviously the two were in cahoots as the second driver refused to use his meter as well. I then went into the Museum to complain, saying that they should be interening in this blatant extortion of visitors to the Musuem. The Israel Museum employees threw up their hands dismissively, saying they could do nothing about it. So, I went out to the main road and caught another cab driving by whose driver wasn’t part of the scam.

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