Incoming tourism dropped 7% in 2014, in comparison with 2013. Despite Operation Protective Edge, the number of visitors to Israel (including one-day stays with no overnights) totaled 3.3 million in 2014, down 7%, compared with 2013.
2014 began well for tourism, with an 8% rise in the number of visitors to Israel in January-June, compared with the corresponding period in 2013. The increase in incoming tourism (excluding one-day visitors) was an even greater 18%.
The trend was reversed with the beginning of Operation Protective Edge in July 2014; with incoming tourism plunging 30%, then stabilizing in recent months at a level of 20% below the preceding year.
Of the 3.3 million visitors in 2014, over 2.5 million (78%) came by air, down 2%, compared with 2013. 400,000 (12%) came by land, 5% more than in 2013, 240,000 (7%) were one-day visitors, down 26%, compared with 2013, and 90,000 (3%) came on cruise ships, 65% fewer than in 2013. The cruise segment suffered the most from Operation Protective Edge.
Ministry of Tourism figures also show that as always, the US was the number one source of tourism to Israel this year. 626,000 visitors came from the US, 19% of all incoming tourism, up 1% compared with 2013, followed by Russia with 567,000 visitors, unchanged from 2013, despite the ruble crisis. There were 301,000 visitors from France, 196,000 from Germany, and 179,000 from the UK, down 1%, compared with 2013.
Internal tourism in Israel moderated the decline in incoming tourism. Overnights in all facilities totaled 16.7 million, up 3%, compared with 2013. There were 13.7 hotel overnights, also 3% more than in 2013. Israeli overnights in rural accommodations totaled 1.9 million, unchanged from 2013, and there were 770,000 Israeli overnights in youth hostels, up 4%, compared with 2013. Field schools reported 330,000 overnights, almost unchanged from 2013.
Minister of Tourism Uzi Landau, who recently announced his retirement from politics, gave his ministry credit for these results, saying, "This year, which started with a steep increase in the number of tourists, posed difficult challenges to us. Despite Operation Protective Edge, we had the same number of tourists and hotel overnights, thanks to focused overseas marketing, and mainly as a result of the Israeli response to the "Vacation in Israel Now" campaign while the operation was still taking place. Israeli vacationers filled the hotels in the peak season of August, thereby supporting businesses in outlying areas and the Israeli economy."
Ministry of Tourism director general Amir Levy added, "Operation Protective Edge halted our momentum, but we're already seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, with recovery in the first half of 2015. The NIS 500 million assistance package assembled by the ministry for tourism businesses bolstered the industry, and restored our status as a growth engine that streaming tens of billions of shekels into the economy."
Levy also said that tourism's contribution to the economy this year was an estimated NIS 41 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 30, 2014
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