Israel’s incoming tourism is continuing to improve in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January 2023, 257,400 tourist entries were recorded (as opposed to 46,200 in January 2022 and 284,800 in January 2019), a 457 percent increase over January 2022 (a month in which Israel’s skies were still closed to tourists) and only 9.6 percent lower than the figures for January 2019, which was a record year for incoming tourism.
This week, at the invitation of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, about 160 tour operators and travel agents from all over the world are arriving in Israel to tour the country.
Most of the guests are first-time visitors and are not currently marketing Israel as a tourism destination in their country. During their stay in Israel, they will become acquainted with the Israeli tourism product and meet with their local counterparts.
The visit is taking place within the framework of the annual ‘Israel: Where Else? Convention’ held by the Israel Ministry of Tourism (with the exception of the pandemic years), and is planned to coincide with the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) where participants will be able to make more connections with the local tourism suppliers.
The Tourism Ministry is offering the visiting tourist agents four possible touring itineraries – Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; the desert and Eilat; spirituality and religion in Israel; culinary and multi-cultural tourism.
