I’m not going to say “I told you so”, but my optimistic forecast for tourist numbers to Israel this year looks like coming true. January 2010 was a record January, up some 62% from last year with some 212,000 tourists visiting the Holy Land. That’s quite a nice leap in the right direction…
As Tourism Minister Misezhnikov put it:
A record January for incoming tourism is a vote of confidence in Israel’s tourism industry and the beginning of the actualization of the ministry’s goal of bringing a million additional tourists within three years.
He reckons it’s going to take three years to get that extra million tourists lining up at Ben Gurion airport’s welcome mat. I have a feeling it will happen even sooner, while this year is surely destined to be a record breaker.
With an improved advertising budget and a leaning towards promoting Israel as the Holy Land, rather than the party capital of the Mediterranean / Middle East, demand and interest from many curious to know what the Holy Land is all about looks like actually converting into bona-fide visitors with tourist dollars in their pocket.
With some amazing things to see and do in Israel, I don’t find it hard to understand why people are interested in visiting Israel. I just can’t get my head round why they have yet to visit!