Israel recorded 2.9 million entries into the country last year, of which 2.7 million were tourists who stayed at least one night, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics. Only 887,100 non-Israeli passport holders entered the country last year and 402,300 in 2020, as draconian travel restrictions due to the Covid pandemic played havoc with the tourist industry.
Restrictions on the entry of foreign tourists into Israel were only fully removed in May 2022 and as a result tourist numbers still have a long way to go to surpass the record 4.9 million entries into Israel in 2019 before the pandemic including a record 4.5 million tourists who stayed at least one night.
During 2022, 810,500 tourists came to Israel from the US, 235,500 from France and 177,900 from the UK.
The Ministry of Tourism cites several factors that have affected tourist entries in 2022: tourists plan their trips far in advance, and Israel opened for incoming tourism later than similar destinations in the region and Europe. Therefore, Israel's recovery rate from the crisis is slightly lower than the global average of about a 36% decrease in the volume of incoming tourism relative to 2019.
In December 2022, 266,200 tourist entries were recorded (compared with 20,500 in December 2021 and 358,300 in December 2019) - a decrease of about 25% in relation to December 2019.
Minister of Tourism Haim Katz said, "2022 was a year of recovery from the corona crisis. The trend is positive and breaking the incoming tourism record of 2019 is a realistic goal on the horizon. Domestic tourism has proven itself as an economic force just as essential as incoming tourism. Our goal is to reduce obstacles, to launch projects that increase the accommodation supply and develop infrastructure, to fully realize the tourism potential in the country."
Tourists injected NIS 13.5 billion into the Israeli economy in 2022, the Ministry of Tourism added.
Meanwhile, outgoing tourism has recovered more quickly than incoming tourism. Israelis made 8.4 million trips abroad in 2022 compared with 9.2 million in 2019.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 8, 2023.
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