Nearly 2 Million Tourists Arrived In Israel Since Beginning Of The Year

Israel welcomed almost two million tourists over the course of the first five months of 2019, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism indicated in a statement on Tuesday.

From January to May 2019, the Central Bureau of Statistics recorded the arrival of some 1.8 million tourists, a significant increase from 1.1 million over the same period in 2011. It marks a 60 percent increase in eight years.

The month of May saw an 11 percent increase in tourist arrivals from the previous year with some 440,000 travelers making their way to Israel, the ministry said. There was an 11.3 percent increase in tourists by air and a 9.7 percent increase in tourists via land crossings. Israel hosted the annual Eurovision contest in Tel Aviv last month, welcoming thousands of tourists participants, and delegations.

Revenue from tourism reached NIS 2.1 billion ($580.1 million) in the month of May and NIS 9.7 billion ($2.68 million) from January through May 2019, according to the ministry.

“The May 2019 tourism statistics continue the consistent upward momentum and record-breaking trend in incoming tourism to Israel,” said
Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin.

NOTE: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the tourist arrival numbers were recorded in the first six months of 2019. January through May is five months.