Tourism in Israel is one of the country's major sources of income, with 2.7 million tourists in 2009.[1] Israel offers a plethora of historical and religious sites, beach resorts, archaeological tourism, heritage tourism and ecotourism. Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the world.[2] The most popular paid site is Masada.[3] The largest groups of tourists visit from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and Germany.[4]
According to Tourism Ministry figures, 280,000 people visited Israel in July 2010, marking an all-time record for the month.[5]
Main article: National parks of Israel |
National Parks in Israel are managed by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority. The national parks in Israel include:[6]
Main article: Nature reserves of Israel |
The Nature reserves of Israel are protected areas for nature and wildlife. As of 2007 there are 190 nature reserves declared by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.[8]
Notable nature reserves declared by Israel include:
Main article: List of museums in Israel |
With over 200 museums, Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the world, with millions of visitors annually.[9] Notable museums in Israel include:
See also: Tourism in the Palestinian territories |
West Bank tourism has been administered by Israel since the beginning of its occupation in 1967.[11] Territory that had been off-limits to Israeli citizens since 1948 were now made available to be used for leisure.[12] Despite that, Israeli citizens are generally restricted from traveling to parts of the West Bank under Palestinian authority control (“Area A”), which includes majority of palestinian cities.[13] Israel established numerous amenities in these territories and East Jerusalem to make it more appealing to Israeli and foreign tourists.[12]. Today, The Palestinian Authority and Israeli tourism ministries work together on tourism in the Palestinian territories in a Joint Committee on Tourism.[14]
For ease of touring, the Golan can be divided into the north with most of its popular destinations and the south where the administrative capital is located. The infrastructure is less developed than that in Israel proper and does not particularly cater independent tourists. Travel guides recommend renting a car in or joining an organized tour. Although it is slower, some travelers chose to hitchhike throughout the region.[17] Accommodations are typically through bed and breakfasts or cabins called zimmers.[18]
The first ski resort in Israeli controlled territory was established in the occupied Golan.[19] Nature trails and other attractions were established by Israel in order to further entrench its presence in the territory and to attract tourists.[12] As much of the Golan's land is not arable, many of the Israeli settlements established focused on tourism as a way generating income.[20]
See also: Israeli Diving Federation |
Eilat is located in the Gulf of Aquaba, one of the most popular diving destinations in the world. The coral reefs along Eilat's coast remain relatively pristine and the area is recognized as one of the prime diving locations in the world.[22] About 250,000 dives are performed annually in Eilat's 11 km coastline, and diving represents 10% of the tourism income of this area.[23] In addition, given the proximity of many of these reefs to the shore, non-divers can encounter the Red Sea's reefs with relative ease.[22] Water conditions for SCUBA divers are good all year round, with water temperatures around 21-25 C°, with little or no currents and clear waters with an average of 20–30 meters visibility.
Main article: Medical tourism in Israel |
Israel is emerging as a popular destination for medical tourists.[24] In 2006, 15,000 foreigners travelled to the country for medical procedures, bringing in $40 million of revenue.[24] The advantages of Israel for health tourism include good natural resources; stable, comfortable climate all year round; a progressive medical systems, and scenic locations which have a calming effect on patients. [25]
Medical tourists choose Israel for several reasons. Some come from European nations such as Romania where certain procedures are not available. Others come to Israel, most commonly from the US, because they can receive quality health care at a fraction of the cost it would be at home, for both surgeries and in-vitro fertilization treatments.
Other medical tourists come to Israel to visit the Dead Sea, a world-famous therapeutic resort.[24] The Israel Ministry of Tourism and several professional medical services providers have set out to generate awareness of Israel's medical capabilities.[26]
Tourism is a leading industry in Israel. In 2010, it constituted 6.4% of the country's GDP. [27] The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that real GDP growth for tourism in Israel is expected to average 5.0% per annum over the years 2010-2020. The contribution of tourism to Gross Domestic Product is expected by WTTC to rise from 6.4% (US$12.0 billion) in 2010 to 7.2% ($22.1 billion) by 2020.[27]
The contribution of the industry to employment is 223,000 jobs in 2010, 7.9% of total employment.[27] Export earnings from international visitors and tourism goods are expected to generate 6.5% of total exports (US $4.8 billion) in 2010.[27]
Investment in tourism is estimated at US $2.3 billion or 7.6% of total investment in 2010.[27]
The Israel Travel & Tourism economy is ranked number 51 in absolute size worldwide, of the 181 countries estimated by the WTTC.[27]
According to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, 54% of the 2.7 million visitors to Israel in 2009 were Christian. Jewish tourists accounted for 39 percent. Revenue from tourism in 2009 totalled $ 3.3 billion. [28]
2008 had 2.9 million foreign tourist visits, of whom 2.5 million were tourist and 0.4 million were only day visitors. The table below shows the number of top 10 countries by foreign visitors in 2008.[29]
Rank | Country | No. of Tourists (thousands) |
No. of Day Visitors (thousands) |
Total Visitors (thousands) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
605.2 | 11.4 | 616.6 |
2 | ![]() |
205.6 | 150.5 | 356.1 |
3 | ![]() |
257.2 | 6.4 | 263.6 |
4 | ![]() |
175.4 | 11.7 | 187.1 |
5 | ![]() |
86.9 | 68.6 | 155.5 |
6 | ![]() |
137.7 | 4.0 | 141.7 |
7 | ![]() |
120.9 | 4.7 | 125.6 |
8 | ![]() |
34.3 | 60.6 | 94.9 |
9 | ![]() |
68.9 | 2.1 | 71.0 |
10 | ![]() |
61.2 | 4.1 | 65.3 |
Rank | Continent | Most of Visitors From |
No. of Tourists (thousands) |
No. of Day Visitors (thousands) |
Total Visitors (thousands) |
% of Total Visitors |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Europe | ![]() |
1471.5 | 374.2 | 1845.7 | 57.2% |
2 | North America | ![]() |
696.3 | 14.2 | 710.5 | 27.1% |
3 | Asia | ![]() |
199.3 | 20.8 | 220.1 | 7.7% |
4 | Latin & South America | ![]() |
86.9 | 2.0 | 88.9 | 3.4% |
5 | Africa | ![]() |
75.6 | 3.3 | 78.9 | 2.9% |
6 | Oceania | ![]() |
42.7 | 1.3 | 44.0 | 1.7% |
In 2005, Ernst & Young conducted the deepest research that was ever made on the Israeli tourism. The Ministry of Tourism of Israel ordered the research in order to make a revolution in this market. The official subject was "A New Market Strategy for Israeli Tourism" and the result was publicized in November 2006.
The report noted that in 2005, Israel received a total of 1.9 million international visitors and opined that a realistic target is to double the number of international tourists until 2011, to 4–5 million visitors.
It stated that "the absolutely most attractive feature Israel has for the international markets is its "religious culture and history""[31] as well as "the great diversity/variety within a very small country". The variety it referred is about the different cultures and religions, the very different landscapes from Mount Hermon (located on the Golan Heights to the Negev desert), different cities (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv), the mix of European and Arabic world, etc. The report pointed out thet "All this leads to a very high density of experience." The report recommends that Israel adopt appropriate marketing strategies to counter any perceived negative imagery associated with political developments.
The two most visited sites in Israel are the Western Wall and the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.[32] The top paid sites of 2008 were listed by Dun & Bradstreet Israel as opposed to the above sites which offer free entry.[3]
Listing | Site | Visitors |
---|---|---|
3 | Masada | 721,915 |
5 | Caesarea | 713,648 |
1 | Jerusalem Biblical Zoo | 687,647 |
4 | Zoological Center of Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan | 581,800 |
2 | Hamat Gader | 500,000 |
6 | Coral World Underwater Observatory in Eilat | 458,000 |
7 | Banias | 430,531 |
8 | Yamit 2000 in Holon | 412,533 |
9 | Luna Park in Tel Aviv | 400,000 |
10 | Qumran | 389,291 |
The top paid sites of 2005 were listed by Dun & Bradstreet Israel. [33]
Listing | Site | Visitors |
---|---|---|
1 | Jerusalem Biblical Zoo | |
2 | Hamat Gader | 550 000 |
3 | Masada | 495 000 |
4 | Zoological Center of Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan | |
5 | Caesarea | 440 000 |
6 | Coral World Underwater Observatory in Eilat | 416 000 |
7 | Mini Israel | 408 000 |
8 | Balagan Yagur near Yagur | |
9 | Mount Hermon | 350,000 |
10 | Luna Gal on shores of Sea of Gallilee |