(TAN): Nearly 308,500 tourists visited Israel in January 2020 compared to 284,800 tourists during the same period in 2019, registering an increase of 8.32% in tourist arrivals, according to data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.
Of the total tourist arrivals, 268,900 entered the country by air and the rest by land. Another 24,500 visitors arrived for one day that included passengers from cruise ships.
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Israel’s Tourism Minister, Yariv Levin reportedly said the growth was propelled by revolution in marketing policy.
“Tourism records continue to shatter, and we end January 2020 with an 8% increase in incoming tourism on January 2019 and 20% more than in January 2018. The numbers speak for themselves. The revolution in marketing policy that we are leading at the ministry is making its mark, and we hope that we can maintain this positive momentum throughout 2020 despite the expected budget cuts,” he was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying.
Israel hosted a record number of tourists in 2019, with around 4.55 million people visiting the Jewish country as compared to 4.1 million visitors in 2018, reports said.
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“We are pleased that the year 2020 has also opened with an increase in the numbers of tourists visiting Israel,” Levin added.
The 10.6% year-on-year rise in tourism helped Israel to generate revenues worth ILS 22 billion (USD 6.41 billion approximately) in 2019, as per reports.
“We have received more than ILS 22 billion from tourism, and created more than 13,000 new jobs, resulting in a total of more than 150,000 jobs created due to the influx of tourists. I think the [tourism] industry is catching on as a central element of the Israeli economy,” Levin was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying.
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The growth came amid geopolitical disturbances in the region, with 1,300 rockets being fired into Israel in 2019, reports said.
As per reports, the United States sent the maximum number of tourists in 2019, with nearly 890,000 visitors, followed by France, Russia, Germany and Britain. Tourist entries from China reportedly went up 49% to 156,000 in 2019.
January is reportedly not a strong month for tourism with relatively less people travelling internationally post Christmas, which indicates Israel could be headed for a strong year in terms of tourism.
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