Wow, another record breaking month for Israeli tourism! They just keep on coming! February 2010 saw another fine month for tourist visits to the Holy Land – in fact, February saw the highest ever number of tourists for a February, ever! Some 222,000 tourists stopped over in Israel, that’s some 46% up on February 2009, and a healthy 12% over the previous February (2008).
The previous highest February (back in 2000) was also beaten by some 4%, while some 178,000 tourists stayed at least one night in the Holy Land, bless ’em!
And as these numbers register in the minds of tourist ministry officials in Israel, they’ll surely be wringing their hands in anticipation of the number of tourists that are expected to flow into Israel during the Passover / Easter period.
Over the last few days, tourist officials have even been checking a wide variety of tourist attractions in Israel, as well as hotels and other leisure sites, in order to ensure they meet specific quality guidelines, including access for the disabled, proper signage and a high level of cleanliness.
The numbers of tourists expected in Israel over Easter is tipped to break records again, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for those official tourist numbers, over the next couple of months. And the Tourist Ministry will be keeping an eye on those tourist sites and hotels to make sure all those tourists get a decent impression of Israel.
They’d better steer clear of H&M then (click on the video to watch opening day madness at H&M in Tel Aviv) …he he!