As many Israelis jet off abroad for their summer vacations, new numbers on incoming tourism obtained by Israel Hayom point to a substantial increase in the number of tourists coming to Israel, and help break it down. Over the course of 2016, 2,872,581 tourists visited Israel, an all-time high. According to a survey by Mertens Hoffman Management Consultants, 47% had already visited Israel at least once before, and 80% said they would be willing to visit again. Nearly half of the tourists who visited Israel in 2016 were over 45 years old. Only 18% were younger than 25. Over half (57%) came on their own. Only 12% came as part of family groups of three or more members. The average stay per tourist was 11.4 nights. At least 64% of tourists organized their own trips, compared to the 27% who visited Israel as part of an organized tour group. Only 8% opted for tourism packages. More than half (54%) of the tourists who visited Israel in 2016 were Christian. Of the Christian visitors, 38% were Catholic, 28% were Protestant, and 28% Eastern Orthodox. Jews comprised only 24% of tourists to Israel in 2016. An additional 15% of tourists said they had no religious affiliation. Muslim tourists accounted for 3% of tourists, followed by Hindus, Buddhists, Baha'is, and members of other religions. Religion was also an important part of the visits themselves, with 23% of tourists arriving for religious reasons, nearly the same percentage as the 22% of tourists who said they were coming to see the country, but less than the 28% who came to visit family and friends. Once here, 63% of tourists stayed in hotels or resorts, 7% rented vacation apartments, and 2% stayed in youth hostels. Another 23% stayed with relatives or friends. Israel was definitely the main attraction: 97% kept their visit to Israel alone, with only 3% combining it with visits to nearby travel destinations such as Jordan, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, or Turkey. The survey indicated that most the tourists made their travel plans online, with 43% having looked up information about Israel and the country's tourism sites on the internet, compared to the 15% of tourists who planned their trips though a travel agent, community organizations (15%), with the help of Israeli friends or relatives (14%), or with help from friends or relatives in their home country (5%). Old-fashioned guidebooks aren't quite dead, as 2% of tourists to Israel in 2016 used them to plan their trip. On average, tourists made their reservations 2.48 months before the planned date of their trip, although 48% made reservations a month or less than a month before their visit. Twelve percent made reservations up to six months before their visit, and 9% made reservations more than six months before they planned to arrive. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin has stated that one of his goals is to increase online marketing for Israel's tourism industry. The ministry has recently been working to implement his vision and boost advertisement of Israeli tourism sites with online travel planning services like TripAdvisor and Expedia. Incoming tourism has also gotten a boost from the reduced air fares that resulted from an expanded "open skies" policy.
New data shows Israel's tourism industry is flourishing
2016 saw all-time high of 2.87 million tourists visiting Israel • 80% say they would return, survey finds • More than half of all tourists are Christian • Tourism Ministry's marketing campaign, open skies policy bearing fruit for industry.
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