Israelis travelers prefer more high-end luxury accommodations - study
The survey polled over 22,000 travelers from 20 different countries throughout the course of 2019.
By ZACHARY KEYSERA hot air balloon soars over the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel(photo credit: REUTERS)Online travel agency Agoda.com has released a new survey in which it examined the preferences of international travelers from across the world, including a focus on Israel.The survey polled over 22,000 travelers from 20 different countries throughout the course of 2019.The booking website reports that the average Israeli travels around five times a year - compared to the worldwide average of six. Given that number 84 percent of surveyed Israelis added that they would prefer to travel more often.Additionally, around half of Israelis prefer to stay in high-end luxury hotel accommodations or something akin to that level of service - compared to the small-margined majority (45%) of travelers who choose one to three-star accommodation when staying in hotels; hostels and boutique hotels ranked at the bottom regarding preferred accommodation.For most vacationers, scenery, sun-beach, food and restaurants are the main reasons travelers spend time abroad. Over half of those surveyed explained that the latter, food and restaurants, was the most notable grounds for travel.For Israelis, the main reasons for travel is to see the world and bring home their experiences with them; 63% of Israelis claimed that approaching nature and enjoying the scenery are what their travel goals are centered around - in that aspect the top three reasons for travel were focused on nature walks, a change of scenery and shopping.In this day and age, with additional types of accommodations such as non-hotel services like AirBnB available, travelers have diverse preferences when it comes to where they lay their head at night.Data cited from the rental guide book At Home Around the World, states that non-hotel accommodations will significantly increase among travelers by 2022 with an estimated 173.9 million travelers expected to use these services.After studying domestic tourism trends in Israel last year - where around 4.5 million tourists were welcomed into the country over that span of time - Agoda decided it would like to increase the number of accommodations they partner with to meet the Holy Land demand."Agoda's technology helps our partners with diverse accommodations reach travelers around the world. Currently, we have 8,000 accommodations for millions of worldwide travelers, and we want to add more providers from all over Israel to our platform so that we can offer travelers a variety of hotels and places to stay at [while in the country]. All the best accommodations, in any area they choose to travel - Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat and more," COO of Agoda Holdings Omri Morgenstern said.
