According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 405,000 tourist entries were recorded in September 2019, 44% more than September 2018 and 46% more than September 2017.
An astonishing 3.297 million tourist entries were recorded in the period from January to September, 2019, compared with 2.917 million in the same period last year, an increase of 13%.
Revenue from in-country tourism in September stood at $581 million, and since Jan. 1 at S4.728 billion.
356,500 tourist entries were by air, 40% more than September 2018 and 41% more than September 2017. 48,400 tourists arrived via the land crossings, 78% more than September 2018 and 84% more than September 2017.
31,500 day visitors arrived in September 2019, as opposed to 19,500 in September 2018 and 21,600 in September 2017.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said in a statement: “September continues the upward trend in incoming tourism with impressive increases and monthly records broken. We are marketing Israel around the world in line with our innovative and market-focused strategy, and we are seeing the results. We continue to develop new markets, while working to maintain traditional markets. In recent years, tourism has become an engine for economic growth and improves our image around the world and I welcome that.”
Tourism Ministry Director General Amir Halevi said in a statement: “Another record-breaking month that serves as testimony to Israel’s attractiveness to tourists from around the world. The Israel Ministry of Tourism is working constantly to ensure a continuation of these record-breaking statistics and to develop new tourism products in order to attract varied target markets such as extreme adventure tourism.”