2015 Sees Optimistic Growth in Israeli Tourism

Despite the challenges of Muslim terrorism and regional upheaval, Israel’s tourism industry remained stable and prosperous over the course of 2015.

Israel’s incoming tourism industry survived regional strife and even grew over the course of 2015, a report by Israel’s Tourism Ministry released on Monday showed.

Despite the regional geopolitical upheaval and aftermath of Operation Protective Edge during the summer of 2014 which brought to a notable dip in tourism in Israel, total visitor entries into Israel dropped only 3 percent in comparison with 2014.

The industry saw an increase in incoming tourism from USA, France and UK, a 32 percent increase in day visitors and 16 percent increase in cruise ships docking at Israel’s ports.

As in previous years, tourism from the USA continued to represent the largest country of origin for incoming tourism to Israel with 586,000 visitors, representing 20 percent of all incoming tourism, 2 percent more than 2014.

Tourism from Russia came in second with 392,000 visitors. Tourism from France takes third place with about 277,000 visitors, followed by Germany with 185,000 and the United Kingdom with 184,000 visitors.

Other countries worthy of note were Ukraine with 128,000 visitors, 5 percent up since 2014, and 62,000 visitors from Canada, an increase of 2 percent.

Christians consisted of 52 percent of tourists, while 27 percent were Jewish. Half of the visitors were in Israel for the first time.

Final numbers are not out yet, but the number of visitors to Israel in 2015 is expected to total about 3.1 million.

Revenue from incoming tourism in the first half of 2015 totals about $9.9 billion.

Jerusalem was the city most visited by incoming tourists in Israel, 77 percent of all tourists. Tel Aviv-Jaffa holds second place with 69 percent of all tourists having visited and in third place, the Dead Sea area with 48 percent. The Galilee area, including Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, holds fourth place with 35 percent of all tourists.

The majority of tourists visiting Israel in 2015 rated their satisfaction as “very good” to “excellent,” a 4.4 out of 5. Services that received a high rating included archaeological sites, tour guides and organized tours.

Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevi expressed satisfaction over the accomplishments of 2015 and optimism for 2016.

“Looking back at 2015, we see that the entire world is facing a new geo-political reality. Terrorism has reached places once considered safe tourism destinations. Together we must develop strategies to deal with this new reality and the main tool is to continue our daily routine, including tourism,” Halevi explained.

“Despite the geopolitical turmoil, incoming tourism to Israel has displayed resilience in 2015, with only a 3 percent drop in visitor entries on last year. I invite tourists and pilgrims around the world to include Israel, the land of creation, in their vacation plans for 2016.”

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel