Haim Gutin has been appointed Israel Tourism Commissioner for North and South America, taking over from Arie Sommer who returns to Jerusalem at the completion of his second term in the post. Prior to his posting to New York, Gutin was the Israel Ministry of Tourism's senior deputy director-general for human resources and logistics, based in Jerusalem.
After earning his BA in history at Tel Aviv University, and his MA in communications at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Haim Gutin joined the Ministry of Tourism in 1982. His previous overseas postings were as consul for tourism and director of the Ministry's Tourism Information Center for North America (1994-96).
He also served as consul for tourism in Dallas and director of the Israel Government Tourist Office in the southern U.S. (1996-99), as Consul for Tourism in New York and Director of the Israel Government Tourist Office in the northeastern U.S. (2002-04). In 2004, he served as Acting Tourism Commissioner for North America.
During his tenure in Jerusalem at the headquarters of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, Gutin served in a variety of posts including director of the marketing administration's European department; supervisor of the domestic tourism promotion and marketing department and supervisor for the Jerusalem district's tourism product department.
Gutin serves on the board of several of Israel's NGO's including the Tisch Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, the advisory council on Tourism Guides' Ethics and as director of the Nations' Culture Youth Center and the East Jerusalem Development Company. Gutin served in the Israel Defense Forces from 1975 to 1978.
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