All the news about Israeli tourism

The Ministry of Tourism has announced that it intends to invest an amount of 15 million shekels during 2010 in order to develop the tourism infrastructure in Jerusalem and to promote tourist events and support domestic tourism in the city. The Israeli capital is the focus of the new work plan recently introduced by the Ministry of Tourism.

The Ministry of Tourism will allocate this sum to encourage tourism to Jerusalem after investing in recent years in a number of sites in the city centre, Ein Karem and in the Old City.  The sum to be invested in 2010 is designed to increase the volume of tourist activity in the city and to prepare the infrastructure to allow for the extension of operating hours and to increase the capacity at the main tourist sites, enabling the entry of many more tourists.

In addition it was announced that the ministry would encourage incoming and domestic tourism by holding tourism awareness events in the city.  The approach of a special weekend event starting on the 26th November, organized by the Jerusalem municipality, the Jerusalem Hotel Association, the Ministry of Tourism has allocated a budget of 350,000 shekels, additionally a similar amount has been allocated by the Jerusalem municipality.

According to the Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, Jerusalem is the main tourist brand that represents Israel and is a main focus for most tourists visiting Israel. “In order to meet the target of a million additional tourists within three years, we have to invest in this important brand during the coming years, in order to make it attractive to a new audience throughout the world and also to the Israeli traveler,” added the minister.

According to the data from the Ministry of Tourism, Jerusalem is the most toured destination in Israel. During 2008, 74 percent of tourists visited Jerusalem, 53 percent of that number slept at least one night in the city, while this year tourists spent an average of six nights in the city.

The preferred tourist sites for visitors to Jerusalem include the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, the Mount of Olives, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Annunciation, the Tower of David and Yad Vashem.