All the news about Israeli tourism

Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov announced that the perennial program for the tourist industry that is being formulated in the coming weeks will focus on marketing initiatives; stressing the importance of tourism as an important source of growth for the economy.

The Ministry of Transport reported the success of marketing activities carried out in European countries, Scandinavia and in the United States that managed to put a break on the slowdown in incoming tourism, caused by the ongoing world economic crisis.  During 2009, 50 million shekels will be invested in marketing activities.

According to the data from the Ministry of Tourism, during March 2009 there was a recovery in tourism from Russia to Israel, with a total of 24,100 Russian tourists arriving in Israel.  This is a reduction of only 1 percent on the same period last year.  Overall in the first quarter of 2009 the number of Russian tourists visiting Israel fell by 13 percent compared to last year.

The Ministry of Tourism expressed their satisfaction with these figures stating that the improved results were as a result of the intensive marketing campaign that was carried out at the end of the military operation in Gaza; in addition to the 25 million shekels invested during 2008 to make Israel a significant destination for the Russian tourist.

Minister Misezhnikov also referred to the intention of the Treasury to cancel the tax exemption on hotel accommodation for incoming tourists and said that this move did not serve the interests of Israel.  He stated that the tourism sector provides fast, proven and efficient growth to the economy and that he plans to put this issue on the agenda immediately.