Israel is Celebrating 60 Years of Tourism

Tourism as a mirror: the state of the state.

Israel is a county of extremes, fluctuating from great happiness and miraculous achievements to fear and despair.  This statement is backed up while looking at the official s of the inbound tourism tendencies along the years.  When the geo-political situation in the Middle East was relatively peaceful, tourists were seen in the streets of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. However, during tensed times, and needless to say, during wars, the whole  tourism industry was at stake.

No doubt, Israel has a lot to offer from a tourist point of view:  first and foremost, Israel is The Holy land, an aspiration for many to come and visit the holy places, mostly in Jerusalem but also up north (for Christians) around the Sea of Galilee. However, Israel is also famous for its great climate, long beaches and places to be that are not at all connected to mysticism….   Some refer to Israel as the New York of the Middle East.

That is why, that after 60 years of existence (since 1948) the feeling is that Israel is rebranded (so to speak) as just a great place for a vacation, regardless to your belief…  yes, we can still add to your visit a day trip to Jerusalem, but you can defiantly come and just  lie on the beach all day, have excellent meals in Eilat’s restaurants or take part in the  bubbling Tel Aviv night scene. The Israeli currency, the Shekel, is still significantly lower than the Euro, Pound or US Dollars so it is relatively a cheap deal after all.   

Israel is 60 years old – great time for tourists.

Going back to dry statistics: despite the inconsistency in Israel’s tourism industry the trend is clear – more tourists come to Israel along the years.  As a matter of fact, 2008, Israel 60th anniversary, was the best year ever – until May 1.2 million tourist came to Israel and this is a dramatic increase of 47% comparing the parallel period in 2007. May set a new peak itself – 300,000 people came to visit and that is 5% more than May 2000, until now was considered to be the best year for incoming tourism, because of the end of the millennia and massive Christian tours.

That is why the ministry of Tourism is now updating the goals toward 2009 – to bring more than 3.3 million tourists.  The aim is to have MORE – more flights, more hotels, more infrastructure development – more tourists.

Ways to come:

It is interesting to see that these numbers reflect another tendency – more tourists are coming in new ways to Israel. For instance, a growing percentage of tourists are coming to Israel as part of a Cruz in the Mediterranean (usually starting from Italy) and even the enormous Fashion TV Yacht is now anchoring at Eilat….

However, flying is still the best deal.  You can fly to Israel from most countries directly to Tel Aviv and even to Eilat. Israel Airlines companies that offer regular charter flights to Israel are nowadays much more efficient than ever and will give you a good price. So, let me recommend that whenever it is time for you to take a break from work  – Israel could be a refreshing choice. Bon Voyage!