Tourism to Israel healthy
February this year saw 299,400 tourists travel to Israel, a 28-per-cent increase compared with February 2017 – and the first two months of 2018 saw a 25-per-cent increase compared to the first two months of 2017, indicating a general upward trend.
Indeed, according to Israel’s Tourism Ministry, overall tourist arrivals to the country in 2017 grew by a healthy 25 per cent, reaching 3.6 million – a record number. This provided Israel with US$5.8 billion in revenue. The Ministry cited the 18 new routes into Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport as a major driver of increased tourism numbers; the US, UK, France, Germany and Russia were the top source markets for inbound tourism to Israel in 2017.
“Month after month,” said Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, “we are witnessing new achievements and record levels of incoming tourists, and I am pleased that impressive increases were recorded in February as well. The marketing activities and innovative steps we are taking, together with the incentives for airlines and investment in infrastructure, are proving themselves month after month, as the tourism industry continues to contribute significantly to the Israeli economy and the labour market.”