Published on : Wednesday, January 9, 2019
In all, 4,120,800 foreign visitors came to Israel in 2018.
“In 2018, we have reached an amazing and historic record with over 4.12 million tourists arriving in Israel” Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said. He added, “We have broken incoming tourism records and this achievement is the direct result of intensive work that we are doing at the Tourism Ministry. This achievement is a result of a revolutionary change in marketing strategy; infrastructure development; opening direct routes from new destinations and creating collaborations with some of the largest travel agents in the world. Incoming tourism makes a huge contribution to both Israel’s economy and its’ image.”
Israeli tourism is indeed thriving, with Jerusalem becoming one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the world. However, the Middle East and North Africa have witnessed a downturn in tourism, with cities including Jerba and Sousse in Tunisia, and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt not finding a place among top 100 city destinations in recent years mostly due to terrorist attacks and subsequent slumping demand. Cairo has, however, welcomed an 11.5% increase in visitors.
Israel not only experienced a record year of incoming tourism in 2018, it also witnessed a record year of Israelis travelling abroad.