Despite coronavirus fears, inbound tourism increased in February
Inbound tourism in February is estimated to be worth NIS 1.7 billion ($493m.) to the Israeli economy, the Tourism Ministry said.
By EYTAN HALONTourists look at a mobile phone as they stand at an observation point overlooking the Dome of the Rock and Jerusalem's Old City(photo credit: REUTERS)
Despite travel fears caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Tourism Ministry said Israel still enjoyed an increase in inbound tourism in February compared to last year.A total of 344,000 tourists entered the country in February, an increase of 0.5% compared to February 2019, and a 14.7% increase since February 2018. Since the turn of the year, Israel has welcomed 652,500 visitors, representing a 4.1% increase compared to the same period last year.“Tourism in Israel is registering tremendous achievements when, for three years, all-time records are broken every month for tourist arrivals – records that bring in tens of billions into the state coffers,” said Tourism Minister Yariv Levin.“Despite the outbreak of the coronavirus, the number of tourists arriving in Israel did not decline, but registered an additional increase. Alongside this achievement, it should be emphasized that the continued spread of the coronavirus is expected to reduce the number of tourists that will arrive in the coming month.”Inbound tourism in February is estimated to be worth NIS 1.7 billion ($493m.) to the Israeli economy, the Tourism Ministry said.Israel welcomed an unprecedented year of incoming tourism in 2019, with approximately 4.55 million tourists visiting the Jewish state. Breaking annual records for a third consecutive year, tourist entries increased by 11% compared to 2018, when 4,120,800 foreign visitors arrived in the country. Incoming tourism during 2019 injected approximately NIS 23 billion ($6.67b.) into the economy, the ministry said.
