There were 59,000 tourist entries into Israel in January 2024, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports, up from 53,000 in December 2023 but down from 271,000 tourist entries in January 2023, as the country's tourist industry struggle to cope with the consequences of the war.
However, there is a much stronger recovery in outgoing tourism. 281,000 Israelis traveled abroad in January 2024, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports, up from 248,000 in December 2023 but still well below the 611,000 Israelis who traveled abroad in January 2023.
These are disastrous figures for Israel's tourist industry, which suffered enormously during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021 but recovered - both incoming and outgoing tourism - prior to the start of the war on October 7.
While El Al, Arkia and Israir have continued flying to and from Israel, most foreign airlines canceled all flights. However, a long list of foreign airlines resumed flights in January and are set to resume flights in the coming weeks, which should help increase the numbers.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 6, 2024.
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