Israel’s tourism sector grew 45% in the first half of 2008 but it should target other countries to reduce the dependence on the US for tourist inflow.
The Tourism Ministry of Israel revealed that the tourism industry grew 45% from January to June 2008, and is likely to see an influx of record 2.8 Million visitors this year, as reported by Reuters.
According to the Ministry, around 1.5 Million visitors came to Israel in the first half of 2008 against just one million during the same period last year. Also, the country received about 2.3 Million tourists in the entire 2007.
Tourism industry, a key pillar of the Israeli economy, has showed strong growth and recovered from low levels recorded in the earlier part of the decade, with a decline in suicide bombing attacks by Palestinian militants. Also, in the first half of 2008, the Ministry was able to expand the base of tourism wholesalers who were interested in promoting the country as a tourist destination. This indicates to growing strength of Israeli tourism sector worldwide, which boosted the industry growth in H1 2008.
Moreover, the Ministry expanded its Website (www.goisreal.com) that now offers maps of various tourist destinations in the country. Apart from the country’s map, the site provides maps of each city from where tourists can get correct information easily, resulting in a rise of the number of tourists visiting the country.
Further, a large number of tourists are expected to visit Israel in near future due to the introduction of ‘open sky’ policy, allowing any airline to fly to Israel and increasing the competition, which leads to decline in prices despite high oil prices. Thus, this policy is going to provide enhanced promotion to the Israeli tourism industry.
As per a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The improving security conditions in Israel led to the robust growth in its tourism sector from January to June 2008. Also, by providing better services, along with proper implementation of marketing strategies, the tourism sector of Israel can maintain high growth. The country should also develop its tourism market worldwide as at present, it depends mainly on the US and it should also invest in target marketing to further benefit the tourism sector.”
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