Tourism numbers to Israel fell a bit in September, actually dropping some 16% compared to last year, but overall, the trend for 2013 looks on course to be another record breaker!
Some 255,000 visitors came to Israel in September 2013, of which 212,000 were tourists (staying more than one night), 10% less than September 2012, 8% less than September 2011 and 3% less than in 2010. This drop is largely due to the Jewish holidays (which all fell in September this year), which actually hit the external tourism numbers due to the high season prices and high occupancy rates in hotels.
However, if looking at the overall numbers from January through September 2013, the numbers still look very promising. Overall, over 2.6 million visitors arrived in Israel, 2% up on the same period last year, and 5% up on 2011.
With tension in Syria and Egypt still adding to the mix, it’s great to see tourism still doing well. And with plenty of amazing things to see and do, there’s no stopping some of you!