JERUSALEM—The number of tourists visiting Israel continues to soar with some 393,000 tourists arriving in the country in March, a 34% increase from last year and 63% more than March 2016, according to final figures released by the Ministry of Tourism and the Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
“This a result of the marketing activities and the innovative steps we are taking, together with the incentives for airlines and investment in infrastructure,” said Tourism Minister Yariv Levin. “Further to the opening of new direct air routes and new markets from India and Brazil in the last month, we are witnessing record levels of incoming tourists. I am pleased that impressive increases were recorded in March as well.”
The increase is partially due to advertising campaigns put out by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism in many countries, the ministry said. The largest increases of tourists were registered in the countries in which the ministry is investing its marketing efforts, a 39% increase in visit from the United States, 136% from Poland, 90% from Sweden, 68% from Spain, 55% from Germany and 49% from France.
Most of the visitors arrived by air, 348,200, an increase of 36% on 2017 and 60% on
Since January, tourism in Israel has brought in nearly NIS4.9 billion into the Israeli economy, and about one million tourist entries were recorded, an increase of 30% on the same period in 2017 (770,000) and 58% more than in 2016.
Last year tourism hit an all time high of 3.6 million tourists.