Expensive vacationing in Israel continues to discourage tourists

Published on : Thursday, July 18, 2019

Expensive vacationing in Israel continues to discourage tourists and constitutes the industry’s weak point, as per a survey conducted by the Tourism Ministry for 2018.

Tourists from Eastern European countries like Slovakia, Romania, Poland and Hungary gave their lowest satisfaction ranking to expenditures on hotels, restaurants, bars, entry to attractions, among others. But there were also few tourists from Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong who expressed their dissatisfaction with the lofty prices.

On the other hand, tourists from the United States, Russia and Ukraine gave the highest grade, increasing the overall satisfaction concerning value for money.

In order to assess the tourism situation in Israel and how to strengthen it, the Tourism Ministry would continue examining tourist satisfaction on important issues like public transportation, tour guides, and the quality of information offered to tourists and its accessibility.

According to the survey, Jerusalem’s leading tourist attractions were the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Via Dolorosa, all in the Old City. Outside of Jerusalem, the leading attractions were ancient Jaffa and Tel Aviv Port. In addition, Masada, Caesarea, the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and Capernaum (on the shores of Lake Kinneret) were visited by 26 percent of tourists.

While staying via Airbnb in Israel is expanding, it seems that there has been no real change in where tourists choose to stay. In 2018, 55 percent stayed in hotels and 28 percent stayed with relatives or friends and only 9 percent stayed in a rented apartment.