Israeli tourism continues to break records with 4.5 million in 2019

Over 4.5 million tourists entered Israel in 2019,  an 11 percent increase over 2018, Israel’s Channel 20 reports. 

By World Israel News Staff

Israel continues to set tourism records with 4.55 visitors have entering the country in the past year. It’s an 11 percent jump over 2018, reports Israel’s Channel 20.

Israeli tourism has been enjoying an upward trend for years, leaping an impressive 55 percent in the last three years. That number brought 23 billion shekels (~$6.6 billion) to the country.

“More than 4.5 million tourists came to Israel in 2019. This year, too, we broke a new record for tourist arrivals. This historic achievement is a direct result of an ongoing revolution that the [tourism] office is leading in marketing Israel to the world, in developing infrastructure, in encouraging international airline companies to develop new flights to Israel, and in establishing cooperation with leading travel agencies in the world,” said Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin.

“Incoming tourism to Israel contributes to the development of the periphery and the economy, and we are proud to lead it,” Levin said. “This is our third year in a row that we are breaking records on tourist arrivals to Israel, and this year we passed the 4.5 million mark.”

“These excellent figures are the result of the professional and marketing revolution we have been leading in recent years. The ‘Two Sunny Cities, One Break’ campaign has been very successful in presenting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as city vacation destinations,” he said.

“And we have now turned to developing more tourism areas, including the Negev and the Arava [Desert], where we see the greatest potential for increasing the number of tourists and the economic growth of the entire region,” Levin said.

The main countries of origin for tourists coming to Israel are: U.S. (889,000), France (338,000), Russia (296,000) and Germany (269,000).

The most popular Israeli destinations for tourists (in descending order): Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Tiberias, Dead Sea and Eilat.