Oh yes, another record to chalk up for tourism to Israel! The month of May was a record ever May with some 309,000 visitors – that’s a third up on May 2009, which ain’t too shabby, we thinks. That now means some 1.4 million tourists have dropped by in the Holy Land in the first five months of the year, an increase of some 11% on Israel’s previous record year, 2008. We are now refusing to take bets on 2010 being the best ever year for tourism to Israel!
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov is obviously a happy camper and is adamant that the only way forward is up. He’s predicting some 4 million tourists coming to Israel in 2012 but also had this to say about the lack of hotel rooms sorely needed for the rising numbers of tourists:
We must be ready to offer them an attractive tourism answer be it in the level of service or quality. Competition with other countries in the region will intensify significantly in the coming months and years and, in order to compete, the ministry will allocate a significant portion of its budget to helping entrepreneurs. The ministry will allocate half a billion shekels to assist in hotel projects whose total investment cost is estimated at about 2 billion shekels and will lead to the construction of thousands of hotel rooms that will contribute hundreds of millions of shekels and thousands of jobs into the economy.
As a result, some 65 million shekels was handed over to five hotel projects last week: in Jerusalem (Waldorf Astoria and a boutique hotel in Ein Kerem) and the Galilee (Hagoshrim Hotel, Ein Hahula, and Prima Tiberias). Plenty of steps are being made to boost hotel room numbers, including reducing the bureaucracy involved for budding hotel owners. Let’s hope they get those rooms built pretty sharpish!