Israel has lost approximately 18.7 billion Israeli shekels (NIS) (1 NIS equal to Rs 22.62) from international tourism and NIS 756 million from domestic tourism since the war with Hamas broke out in October last year.
The country’s tourism ministry said in a statement that about 853,000 tourist arrivals have been recorded in the past year since the war began, mostly from the US, France, Britain, Russia and the Philippines.
More than 62 percent of them were Jews, while 29 percent of the tourists were Christians. Similarly, about 44 percent came to Israel to visit friends and family, while 28 percent said their main purpose was classic tourism, and 13 percent came for business. For 73 percent of tourists it was a repeat visit.
A total of 68,712 tourists evacuated from the northern part of Israel have not yet returned home, the ministry said. Of the evacuees, 53,113 are living within the community, while 15,599 are being accommodated in hotels since the war began.
The Tourism Ministry said the cost of evacuees currently stands at NIS 5.466 billion, which has been transferred to the respective hotels, and an additional NIS 3.182 billion, which was paid directly as evacuee grants to those choosing to stay in the community.
Soon after the war began, to ensure proper living conditions for the evacuees and prevent the collapse of the hospitality industry, Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz requested and managed the evacuation of residents living along the conflict line. Received the right. This operation replaced private travel agents who charged commission, saving the state approximately NIS 400 million.
Israel’s Tourism Minister Haim Katz said, “Our personal and sensitive treatment of evacuees helped strengthen the resilience of the home front during Israel’s long campaign. We worked to preserve the infrastructure needed for the tourism industry and we are continuing our efforts to encourage tourism even during these challenging times.”
“Tourism is a national, economic and diplomatic asset. I would oppose the repeal of the zero percent VAT for tourists, a move that would provide no additional revenue to the state, increase the cost of visiting Israel and adversely affect incoming tourism. Number of,” he said.
Based on the pace of tourist arrivals up to the start of the war, it was projected that a new record would be achieved in 2019, surpassing the tourism record of approximately 4.5 million. However, while 30 lakh tourists entered the country in 2023, the number is expected to drop to around 10 lakh this year.
However, despite the tourism crisis, the ministry continues to receive many grant requests for hotel construction and expansion. In 2023, a grant totaling 128,229,663 NIS was approved for the construction of 2,122 hotel rooms. Since the beginning of the war, seven hotels have been opened with the assistance of the Ministry, containing 765 rooms.
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