Last year, Passover started on Wednesday, April 8, just weeks after many cities around the world went into a complete COVID-19 lockdown. This meant that virtually every single Passover program was forced to close its doors.
“The governments didn’t allow programs to operate,” said Doni Schwartz, co-founder and CSO of PassoverListings.com (the number one Passover program review website in the world), in an interview with the Journal. “Program operators had to put down deposits months in advance for the food, hotels and various vendors, and then, all of a sudden, they couldn’t open.”
This year, the Passover industry has slightly rebounded, according to Schwartz. About 30 programs will be operating this year, which is a fifth of what there was in the past. Typically, 150,000 people go away for the holiday during non-COVID-19 times. Still, many of the programs are 60-80% booked up, and operators are very optimistic, said Schwartz.
many of the programs are 60-80% booked up, and operators are very optimistic.
In order to accommodate customers that may have had financial troubles this past year, some of the program operators are keeping their prices the same, while others are offering discounts. There are new terms and conditions for customers as well. Aside from the programs taking safety measures to combat COVID-19, they’re modifying their contracts. “If the government shuts them down again, these customers will get 100% refunded depending on the program,” said Schwartz.
In the United States, people can choose from programs in Florida, California, New York and Ohio from companies like Kosherica, Grand Getaways and RAM Destinations. When traveling to Mexico, they can choose from programs with private villas and pools for additional safety precautions, and they can even go to Morocco and the newly-added United Arab Emirates.
“It’s the first of its kind in the UAE,” said Schwartz. “It’s nice to have another option. We surveyed a lot of people on our Passover Listings Facebook group, and they said the number one thing they look for in a Pesach program is traveling to a new destination.”
On the group, Schwartz said he has noticed how many people are excited to go on a program since they’ve been holed up in their homes for the past several months.
“They haven’t spent that much money or traveled. They are avid Pesach travelers who don’t feel like cooking and cleaning, so they are really excited to go away. You have first-time travelers who have never been on a program but have been bunkered up. They have to take off work anyway, and they want an all-inclusive experience. With vaccines coming out all around the world and all these safety precautions in place, there is a lot more excitement this year than I expected.”
According to Schwartz, Pesach programs have been going on for 40 years, and he doesn’t think COVID-19 will slow them down in the long run. “We get thousands of people coming through Passover Listings per day,” he said. “The fact that we’re getting so many people coming through is there is still a massive interest in attending a Pesach program, and thankfully, the tour operators are seeing that. They’re starting to get a lot of book[ings] [from] people who are ready to travel.”
And next year, once COVID-19 finally gets under control, Schwartz believes Pesach programs will be bigger than ever. “I think in 2022 it’ll be a blow out,” he said. “There will be a lot of new programs popping out of the woodwork in Dubai and other exotic locations. Everyone is going to want to travel and get away next year. It’ll probably be the biggest year we’ve had for Pesach in a while.”
Kylie Ora Lobell is a writer for the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, The Forward, Tablet Magazine, Aish, and Chabad.org and the author of the first children’s book for the children of Jewish converts, “Jewish Just Like You.”
