There were 68,100 tourist entries into Israel in February 2024, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports, up from 59,000 in January 2024 and 53,000 in December 2023 but down from 319,100 tourist entries in February 2023, as the country’s tourist industry continues to struggle to cope with the consequences of the war.
While El Al, Arkia and Israir have continued flying to and from Israel throughout the war, most foreign airlines canceled all flights. However, a long list of foreign airlines resumed flights in January and February but this has not helped to substantially increase the numbers.
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However, there is a much stronger recovery in outgoing tourism. 343,800 Israelis traveled abroad in February 2024, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports, up from 281,000 in January 2024, and 248,000 in December 2023 but still well below the 561,900 Israelis who traveled abroad in February 2023.
These are disastrous figures for Israel’s tourist industry, which suffered enormously during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021 but recovered – both incoming and outgoing tourism – prior to the start of the war on October 7.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on March 7, 2024.
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