Fall of 18 percent in tourist hotel nights in January

Based on data released by the economic department of Israel Hotels Association, the military operation in Gaza resulted in a sharp downturn in tourist nights during January 2009.  This was the first fall since the start of 2008.   Hotels within a 40 km range of the Gaza Strip recorded a complete stop in services, apart from media and security personnel.

In January the total number of hotel nights registered was 542 thousand, a fall of 18 percent compared to January 2008.  Dramatic falls were recorded in most parts of the country, except for hotels in Nazareth which recorded an increase of 132 percent, Netanya with a 5 percent increase and the Dead Sea up by 1%.

The sharpest decreases were in those areas within range of the missiles fired from Gaza. (Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheva); however also hotels in other parts of the country recorded sharp falls, such as Tel Aviv down 34 percent, Jerusalem with a fall of 19 percent and Herzliya down by 51 percent.  Hotels in Eilat recorded a fall of 4 percent in hotel nights.

According to Shmuel Zuriel, head of the Israel Hotels Association, while other sectors of the economy entered the recession during the middle of 2008, the tourism industry bucked the trend and continued to grow until the end of the year.  “The war was the catalyst that caused the change in direction and unfortunately the negative trend in tourism will continue into February.  We mustn’t allow a further decrease in demand from foreign visitors to Israel during the coming months”.

In contrast to the fall in hotel nights from overseas visitors, the total number of Israeli hotel nights stood at 621 thousand, a reduction of 3 percent compared to January 2008.  Of those 38 percent of the Israeli hotel nights were in Eilat (237 thousand hotel nights) an increase of 1 percent on the previous year.  The war in Gaza also brought a dramatic fall in Israelis staying overnight in Nazareth, with only 1,700 hotel nights recorded.