The Creative Team at Gil Travel
Gil Travel has professional, multi-lingual staff located in offices in Philadelphia, New York, Boca Raton, Jacksonville and Tel Aviv. Among our staff we have employees who speak Hebrew, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Albanian, Creole, Arabic, Romanian and Yiddish.
What makes our team special are years of experience and their dedication to making each trip special. Our staff have traveled the world and learned to understand the different cultures with whom they interact. Moreover, they spend an infinite amount of time learning to understand your needs so that they can program a trip that will be unforgettable.
It takes years of experience to program special moments. Our team with years of experience, knows just how to do it right.
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Imagine a Roman extravaganza at the footsteps of Massada in Israel.
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Or White Nights Fountain Extravaganza; cocktail reception and dinner at the PeterHoff Palace, in St. Petersburg.
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Or better yet, Fantazia horse and acrobatic dinner show in Marrakech.
This is the Gil Team - we are here to serve your needs
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| Igal Hami, President & CEO and Iris Hami, VP & CFO | Igal Hami, President & CEO and Sharon Cheeseman, General Manager, Philadelphia office |
Iris Hami, VP & CFO and Armanda Albert, Executive Leisure Travel Consultant | Susan Blum, Israel Department Manager, Philadelphia office |
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| Shirley Shchory, Executive Travel Consultant, Israel Department, Philadelphia office | Victoria Granero, Corporate Travel Consultant, Philadelphia office | Debbe Mays, Ticketing Department Manager, Philadelphia office | Naomi Behar-Perez, Special Projects Manager, Philadelphia office |
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| Nayaz Noor, Director of Operations, Secunderabad, India | Mandy Goldstein, Travel Consultant | Anna Evenzahav, Bible Lands and Reformation Group Tours | Melanie Kelly, Travel Agent Assistant, Philadelphia office |
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| Fredric Bomze, Executive Leisure Travel Consultant | Dottie Golden, Travel Consultant | Mody Koffman, Accounting Department | Alma Frasheri, Accounting Department Manager |
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| Carmen Pratt, Human Resources, Administrative & Reporting Manager | Melissa Hersh, Travel Consultant | Karen Allen, Travel Consultant | Nili Baram, Travel Consultant |
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| Donna Burman, Pricing and Quality Control | David Fausnaught, Special Projects Manager | Yafit Hadria, Travel Consultant | Yigal Baher, IT Department |
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| Hannah Schwartz, National Missions and Tours Coordinator for JNF Travel and Tours and Gil Travel | Barbara Nussbaum, Customized Educational Travel Consultant |
Michal Vana, Travel Consultant | Lauren Saladoff, Travel Consultant |
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| Kathy McKoskey, Receptionist | Kathleen Duckworth, Travel Consultant | From left to right: Marilyn Bardo, Vice President, Operations, NY office; Miriam Osman, Operations Manager, NY office; Francois Naggar, Travel Consultant, NY office; Lesyle Gamarra, Travel Consultant, NY office |
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The Israel Office
| Gil Travel | Kenes International | ||
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 Dalia Djiji Tour Operator |
 Ziv Riani Tour Operator |
 Virginia Syvan Tour Operator |
 Orit Gilad Tour Operator |
BIOS
Armanda Albert, Leisure Travel Consultant
Thirty years ago Armanda started with Gil Travel. She is experienced, not only in Israel, but all destinations, as well as being very well versed in the up scale market.
Susan Blum, Israel Dept. Manager
Specializing in Israel travel since 1975, Susan started her career with a small Israeli firm that became known nationwide.
Susan joined Gil Travel in 1981 and has successfully sent large and small movements, including family, bar/bat mitzvah, synagogue tours, organizational and incentive, specialty and private car tours to Israel.
Susan’s knowledge of the country and hotels is vast and as a result gets many referrals from clients whose travel to Israel she arranged.
Susan has also attended Temple University Real Estate School and graduated with honors.
Fredric Bomze, Executive Travel Consultant
Senior travel professional with 20 years experience in the travel industry.
Primarily an FIT specialist, Fred’s expertise has been in the international market with a focus on Europe, Caribbean, and Mexico. Fred has in fact developed customized itineraries for many of the regions top executives.
During his travel career Fred has consulted on numerous “round-the-world” itineraries. Another area of expertise has been in the student travel market, where he has coordinated travel for college student study abroad programs as well as summer programs in France.
Fred received an MBA from La Salle College in May, 1984 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from The American University in Washington, D.C. in May, 1981.
Debbe Mays, Ticketing Dept. Manager
Debbe’s travel agent career began in November of 1985.
Over the years, Debbe has worked 2.5 years with Bartlett Travel, 6.5 years with Rosenbluth Travel and presently 11 years with Gil Travel.
Debbe’s expertise is with Corporate, Leisure, Groups, Individual and Domestic and International Travel.
Francois Naggar, Group Travel Consultant
Having been in the travel business for over 35 years, Francois Naggar has vast experience in the French, Greek, Israeli and Oriental markets.
Currently, he handles air arrangements for large group movements and missions, as well as meeting and assisting passengers at the airport. Along with English, he is fluent in French and Italian.
Francois has been with Gil Travel since September of 2001.
Marilyn Bardo, VP Operations, Gil Travel NY
Marilyn Bardo is one of the esteemed members in our New York UJC office.
Though she’s been with Gil Travel for 6 years, she adds over 30 years of experience to our team and exercises great skill in her job as Vice President of Operations.
She’s responsible for contracting all group air rates and space, overseeing the office, and acting as a liaison between Gil and the UJC. Other than English, Marilyn is also fluent in Hebrew and French.
Anna Evanzahav, Bible Lands and Reformation Group Tours
Having lived in Israel, Greece and the United States Anna understands and knows the logistics of travel.
Anna started her travel career in Greece. She was a key person in establishing a cultural exchange program between Israel and Greece in the early 1980s.
She returned to the United States in late 1988 when she joined Oren travel International, specializing in Bible Land Tours. She works with Pastors of all denominations nationwide. Anna’s specialty is in designing and the wholesale pricing of special itineraries such as: “In the footsteps of Jesus,” “Journeys of Paul,” and “From Exodus to Fulfillment of Prophecy.” She also specializes in organizing Reformation tours to Europe.
Her Motto is “Meet all the needs and specifications that the TOUR Leader NEEDS.”
Contact her for the “Trip of a lifetime.”
Barbara Nussbaum, Customized Educational Travel Consultant
Barbara Nussbaum brings to Gil Travel, 30 years of Professional Leadership experience within the Jewish Community. Most recently Barbara was the Executive Director of Hadassah of Greater Philadelphia and was the Director of Israel Missions and Director Human Resources and Leadership Development for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
For the past two years, Barbara has been a Consultant to Jewish, Christian and secular organizations helping them to utilize travel as a means to help them reach their organization’s goals and needs. The uniqueness of her work is how she helps each group plan effectively, and builds leadership and relationships within their group as well as with others.
Having lived in Israel, Barbara’s knowledge and understanding of the culture and people has enabled her to transmit that enthusiasm and energy to others. Her positive relationship with synagogues, organizations, schools and their leaders has helped Barbara create a special niche in selling travel programs to Israel and to other countries.
Karen Allen, Expert Travel Consultant
Karen’s passion is conceptualizing, organizing and implementing travel to Israel. She has been doing this for families, community leadership, couples, women, Jewish and interfaith groups for more than 20 years. Each itinerary is tailored specifically for that clientele, and she works with clients throughout the United States.
The trip sizes may vary from a family of four to a group of 100. Her planning allows you to focus on what’s important for you, whether it is sightseeing at its finest, fundraising, outdoor adventures or relationship building with an agency, hospital or Israeli town of your choosing.
Karen’s knowledge extends beyond Israel. She has planned specialized Jewish focused trips and has led groups to the Former Soviet Union and Europe. Her expert knowledge provides the necessary skills in helping you plan “the trip of your dreams” to anywhere you’d like to go.
The association between Karen and Gil Travel first began in 1989, during her 22-year employment at the Birmingham Jewish Federation. Karen officially joined the Gil Travel Team in September 2006.
