Eilat hotels are pretty booked during the last two weeks in August. At the same time, hotel prices have increased 25% as compared to July and early August, and special deals (such as fourth night free or discounted airfares) have expired.
The demand for accommodations in Eliat stems from a larger number of large corporations going on vacation, such as Israel Aircraft Industries, Israel Military Industries, Telrad etc. In addition, many individuals are now taking vacation, including traditional Jews who do not take vacations in the period prior to the Tisha B’av fast day, which was on August 12 this year. Also, Eilat is hosting several events such as the Jazz Festival and the Yemenite festival.
Aharon Dekel, president ofl the Eilat Hotels Association, believes that hotels are 85% booked on average, as compared to 83% in August last year. During the past year, the number of hotel rooms has increased by 5%.
In July, hotels were 88% booked, as compared to 85% in July 1996. 559,000 overnights were booked in Eilat in July, of which most were registered by Israelis (514,000). This was a 22% increase as compared to July 1996. It was also larger than the national increase of overnights, 14%.
Hotel prices in Eilat and other tourist locations will come down 30% in September, the period between summer’s end and the Jewish holidays, which begin in October this year.