It really looks like 2012 is going to be heck of a year for tourism, with numbers just released showing that the first six months of 2012 were well up on previous years!
The economy might not be on track throughout most of the world, but it looks like the lure of a visit to the Holy Land is just too much to resist (there’s just some amazing things to see and do in Israel!)…
The tourism stats released show that 1.7 million visitors popped over to Israel during the first six months of 2012, which is 6% up on last year. Those numbers also include 1.4 million tourists, a number which is up slightly on the first half of 2011 but 8% up on Israel’s record breaking year of 2010.
June was also a record breaker in itself, with some 285,000 visitors – that’s 9% up on last year and 10% on June 2010. Those numbers include 210,000 entries via air travel, and some 32,000 by land crossings with Jordan and Egypt, which is 19% up on last year. The number of day visitors for June saw a big 28% jump on last year, with 43,000 entries.
Numbers released by the Central Bureau of Statistics show a number of highlights for the first six months of 2012, including:
- 269,000 entries were day visitors (26% up on last year)
- 1.2 million tourists entered via air (2% up over last year)
- 214,000 visitors entered via land crossings (11% up on last year)
If you haven’t yet booked your ticket, it’s not too late to join the party!