Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Just a few weeks ago, tourism was said to be the olive branch that was going to improve relations between Israel and the rest of the Middle East.
Saturday’s surprise Hamas attack on the country has a confirmed death toll of more than 1,000 so far, completely halting its tourism sector, and further delaying any hopes of stability in the area.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war — not in an operation, not in rounds — at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broadcasted following the Hamas group’s attack on parts of Israel, including the capital and tourist hot spot Tel Aviv.
In the south of the country, Hamas stormed and opened fire on a festival where there were more than 3,000 people.
More than 260 bodies have reportedly been recovered from the festival site, according to rescue agency Zaka, reported the a news media. Others have been taken hostage.
International tourism has responded by freezing travel to Israel and advising all its citizens to steer clear of the country.
Airlines’ reaction to Hamas attack
Across the world, the industry’s largest carriers have stopped routes to Israel, while governments, such as the US, have issued a “Do Not Travel” to Gaza and “Exercise Increased Caution When Traveling To” Israel or the West Bank, due to terrorism and civil unrest.
Canada and the UK have similar travel advisories, updated for citizens over the weekend. Australia’s foreign minister gave similar warnings at a press conference held at Melbourne Airport over the weekend.
Israel tourism sector shuts down
Prior to its bloodiest attack in decades, Israel had high hopes this year for its tourism sector. In 2022, the country saw 2.7 million tourists back after Covid restrictions lifted.
These visitors brought $4 billion back into the economy and helped Israel get back on track toward a record-breaking year of tourism in 2023.
For 2019, the country had 4.7 million visitors.
A statement from the Minister of Tourism at the start of 2023 was immensely positive: “2022 was a year of recovery from the corona(virus) crisis. The trend is positive and breaking the incoming tourism record of 2019 is a realistic goal on the horizon. Domestic tourism has proven itself as an economic force just as essential as incoming tourism. Our goal is to reduce obstacles, to launch projects that increase the accommodation supply and develop infrastructure, to fully realize the tourism potential in the country.”
But the country has struggled to meet its targets so far this year.
In August 2023, Israeli tourism was reported to be 4%-7% lower than the pre-Covid levels of 2019, as per data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
During that month, Israel saw a total of 311,200 foreign visitors, with 284,200 of them categorized as tourists who spent at least one night in the country. To provide context, this marked a contrast from the figures of August 2022 when 247,100 foreign visitors arrived, and August 2019 when 324,200 visitors came to Israel.
Additionally, in August 2022, there were 234,400 tourists who spent at least one night, while in August 2019, that number was 304,600.
Up to August of this year, Israel was still behind its 2019 levels by 13%, bringing in 2.52 million visitors compared to 2019’s 2.89 million up to the same period.
Israel’s tourism minister had recently presented a plan to welcome seven million tourists by 2030 and was looking to focus on Asian markets to increase the number of visitors.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Saturday, April 27, 2024
