Yes, them tourists just can’t stay away! A few days ago the latest numbers were released by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, and they were happy to reveal that between January and October this year some 2.87 million tourists visited Israel. And as we speak, the 3 millionth tourist may already have landed – wow!
That means 2009’s 2.7 million tourists is history with a capital H…while 2008’s all-time record of 3 million is just about to go. With an increase of over 25% on the same period last year, Israel tourism officials are predicting a bumper crop of 3.3 million tourists for the whole of 2010.
Some 404,000 tourists visited Israel in October, another all-time high for the month (we’ve seen a lot of them this year).
Tourism Ministry officials estimate that the incoming tourism has brought in some $2.3 billion up until August, which is a whopping 37% up on the same period last year. Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said:
The October data, together with data since the beginning of this year and even beyond, reflects the revolution that the Tourism Ministry, the tourism industry, Israel’s tourism product and Israel’s image as a tourism destination is going through in Israel and around the world. In order that Israel’s tourism potential is realized, tourism must be given its rightful place in the order of national priorities, as a leading social and economic force.
At a recent tourism conference in London, tourism ministers and industry leaders from around the world expressed their admiration for Israel’s role in the rising tourism numbers in the Middle East region over the last year.
What are you waiting for? Come on over!