321,000 people from abroad visited Israel in January, including 35,000 on one day trips (including 3,000 from cruise ships), the Central Bureau of Statistics has reported. 250,000 tourists entered Israel by air and 35,000 over land. January tourist figures are 11% higher than 2018 and 35% up from 2018, the Ministry of Tourism said.
In 2018, a record 4.12 million tourists came to Israel, up 14% from 2017, which was also a record, and up 42% from 2016.
January is traditionally a relatively weak month for tourism with few people traveling abroad after the Christmas holidays, so Israel's higher figures last month suggests the country could be on the way to another record breaking year in 2019.
Israel's Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin said, "The first month of 2019 sees records continue to be broken in tourism. The encouraging figures for the start of the year are a direct continuation of the innovative activities we have carried out in marketing and infrastructures. The rise in the number of tourists over the years is proof of the quality of the Israeli tourism product. I hope and believe that 2019 will continue the unprecedented surge in tourism that we have created over the past few years."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 6, 2019
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