Travel
April was best ever month for tourism in Israel
About 349,000 foreigners made a trip to Israel in April – an increase of more than a third (38 per cent) on the same period last year
May 10, 2017 10:08
About 349,000 foreigners made a trip to Israel in April – an increase of more than a third (38 per cent) on the same period last year
May 10, 2017 10:08More tourists visited Israel last month than at any other time since the country was founded in 1948.
About 349,000 foreigners made a trip to Israel in April – an increase of more than a third (38 per cent) on the same period last year, part of Tourism Minister Yariv Levin’s aim to grow numbers to five million annually.
The surge in overseas visits is “part of a positive trend”, according to Mr Levin, with a 10 per cent increase in visitors in 2016 despite the region’s ongoing troubles. Attributing the rise to a shift in marketing strategy and increased budgets, UK visitor numbers rose 7 per cent last year and are expected to grow to 210,000 by the end of 2017.
The rise is down to a mix of lower flight prices and tapping in to new markets, according to Phil Bloomfield, Global Head of Communications for flight search website Cheapflights.co.uk, which has also seen searches for flights from the UK to Tel Aviv rise by around 13 per cent over the past year.
“Our analysis of Brits’ travel habits this year, in the context of the recent political developments both at home and abroad, currency fluctuations and other factors, show a shift in sentiment, with demand for traditional European holiday hotspots, such as Spain, waning. It’s no surprise that the beauty, history and culture of Israel is wooing British holidaymakers.”
Wizz Air launched a new route between Luton and Tel Aviv, starting from June this year, while Ryanair is flying 19 routes from Israel in 2017, 15 of them new. And Monarch has seen a 115 per cent increase in the number of passengers it is flying to Tel Aviv and Eilat, says Ian Chambers, Monarch’s Chief Commercial Officer.
“We have also recently announced our Eilat flying programme for its third winter season – the destination has seen an increase in passengers year on year and we hope to see it grow more during winter 2017/18 when the new airport opens.”
Expected to handle around 1.3 million passengers in its first full year, 150,000 of them international, figures for the new Ramon Airport are already projected to rise to 4 million, with incentives from the Ministry of Tourism to airlines flying winter routes to Eilat.
More than 12,000 new rooms are planned for the Red Sea resort, along with high-profile hotel openings such as the W Tel Aviv Jaffa and the Brown Jerusalem.
“With more new hotels set to open, more museums and tourist attractions already being built and planned, we are excited about the future of tourism and confident this figure will continue to grow," says Ilanit Melchoir, Tourism Director, Jerusalem Development Authority.
The boom has made a “tremendous contribution to the Israeli economy and workforce”, according to Mr Levin.
Some 1.09 million tourist entries have been recorded since January 1, which has injected a record NIS 6 billion into the economy since the start of the year, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
The ministry reported that 309,000 tourists entered the country by air in 2017, up 36 per cent on April 2016. Making the journey by land from Jordan were 34,000 people, while 6,000 did the same from Egypt.
