Annual 'Star Awards' list from Forbes recommends hotels, restaurants, spas around the world
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After years of earning a spot on Forbes Travel Guide's "Star Awards" list, three Israeli hotels are all missing from the 2024 list.
Before the war between Israel and Gaza broke out following the October 7 terrorist attack on the Jewish state, three Israeli hotels made the list for at least six years prior.
The Norman Tel Aviv, The Ritz-Carlton, Herzliya and The Setai Tel Aviv were all listed in the Forbes guide in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, but they did not make the cut in 2024. The annual guide from Forbes lists hotels, spas, restaurants and cruises, marking them "Recommended," "4-Star" and "5-Star."
Dan Eleff, the founder of DanDeals, a website which helps Jewish travelers score the best deals, said the change has prompted him and others in the Jewish community to question the sudden change.
"I'm definitely curious to know, is this an oversight?" he asked. "Because in the past, just last year, they honored several luxury hotels in Israel... So I'm wondering why it's now completely wiped off the map."
Beachgoers on a beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. (Getty Images)
"Especially just post October 7th, where we've seen antisemitism and obviously anti-Zionism just explode immediately after the massacre and even before Israel responded, the world seemed to have gone crazy ... and I'm curious, is something nefarious going on here, or why exactly is Israel just completely left off when three hotels won awards last year?"
It remains unclear why the hotels fell off the list in 2024, or whether it was possibly related to security concerns as Israel wages war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Forbes Travel didn't respond to a request for comment.
The Forbes Travel Guide is the self-described "global authority on luxury hospitality," serving as a prominent resource for luxury hotels, restaurants, spas and ocean cruise ships in over 85 countries around the world. In 1958, it started out as the Mobil Travel Guide, creating the Five-Star rating system based on both service and facility.
"For the 66th annual list of the best hotels, restaurants, spas and ocean cruises, FTG explored destinations offering meaningful experiences as well as smaller U.S. cities that are often overlooked. The awards also expanded to new destinations, including Azerbaijan, Curacao, Iceland, Kenya, Sardinia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines," Forbes wrote with its 2024 guide.
"FTG compiles its ratings using an objective, independent and data-driven process. Incognito inspectors pose as everyday guests and stay at hotels, board cruises, receive spa services and dine at fine restaurants around the world. They test some 900 exacting standards—such as whether a room is designed to promote sleep quality or whether the food-and-beverage choices support a guest’s well-being—emphasizing exceptional service, which accounts for 70 percent of a property’s rating."
The Setai Tel Aviv and The Norman Tel Aviv (Getty Images)
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The article accompanying the list noted the "Middle East emerged as the region with the most new Five-Star awards," pointing to spots in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Other locations on the 2024 list include spots in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Eleff said not having Israel represented was "very curious."
"You're not just relying on word of mouth in your own narrow circle, but you meet new cultures and experience new cultures," he said. "I mean, just looking through their site … it's very curious that Israel is not on there at all. It doesn't really speak to the tolerance that normally is involved with travel, so it's pretty surprising to me that nothing would come up for Israel at this point."
"It's definitely curious that you go on their website and search for Egypt or Jordan or Saudi Arabia, and each of those has several hotels and many articles and Israel is seemingly just nothing, nothing comes up at all," he added.
Forbes Magazine, which publishes the influential 30 under 30 list, has held five "Under 30 Summits" in Israel, according to a 2022 article in the Jerusalem Post. Randall Lane, the chief content officer and editor at Forbes Magazine, previously praised Israel for its entrepreneurship.
"We’re here because entrepreneurship is at the center of the global community," Lane said. "We’re Forbes. We’re biased, not toward generic business leaders, but to founders, entrepreneurs, change-makers. And the DNA of this country, as it’s evolved over the last five, 10, 20 years – it’s just a very inspiring place to think about big ideas and think about big challenges."
High-rise buildings surrounding beaches in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023 (Getty Images)
"The success that Israel has had is incredibly inspiring," he added. "The challenges that Israel has are incredibly intoxicating, because the problems are so big, but if solved, would be so, so monumental."
The Norman Tel Aviv, The Ritz-Carlton and The Setai Tel Aviv did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Kendall Tietz is a Production Assistant with Fox News Digital.
