Tourist entries continue record-setting year

25% more visitors arrived in November than in the corresponding month of 2007.

17 December 08 16:05, Globes' correspondent

2008, already a record year for incoming tourism, continues to see an influx of visitors to Israel. From January to November, 2.8 million tourists visited Israel an increase of 35% over the corresponding period of last year, and 10% more than the corresponding period in 2000, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

260,000 tourists visited Israel in November 2008, a 25% increase on November 2007.

Minister of Tourism Ruhama Avraham-Balila, commenting on the record tourism figures, said, "This success is of fundamental importance, as income from tourism registered significant increases this year, reaching NIS 25 billion." She added that thousands of new employees began working in the tourism industry.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 174,000 tourists entered Israel by air in November 2008 (an increase of 23%), of whom 8,000 arrived on direct flights into Eilat 2.5 times more than November 2007. Of the 2.8 million tourists who have visited Israel since the beginning of the year, 2.4 million stayed longer than one day (26% more than 2007) 436,000 were one-day visitors, twice as many as the same period last year.

The Tourism Ministry is initiating and operating training courses in the various branches of the tourism industry, with courses soon opening for women in tourism sales and marketing in the North of Israel, entrepreneurial courses for Druze women and bed-and-breakfast owners, service workshops for taxi drivers in Eilat, tour guide courses for Russian and Chinese speakers and more.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 17, 2008

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