Tourists flocked to Israel this summer, an increase which injected billions of dollars into the Israeli economy this year. 253,800 tourist entries were recorded in August 2017, up 20% from the previous year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. From January to August 2017, 2.3 million tourists entered the country, a 24% rise from 2016 and 20.4% more than in 2015. Since the beginning of 2017, tourism has injected $3.4 billion into the Israeli economy. For the first time, the Tourism Ministry ran a pre-summer marketing campaign in Europe, encouraging travel to Israel during the summer months. Until now, the summer was a low period for tourism, a trend which the ministry made an effort to change. The ministry's first campaign in Poland helped garner a 60% rise in tourist entries from the eastern European nation. Of the tourist entries, 231,800 came by air, an increase of 19% on August 2016 and 9% on August 2015. 21,900 more tourists arrived through the land crossings, 18,800 of which came via Jordan and about 3,100 via Egypt. A 125% increase in day visitors was recorded in August; 21,200 in 2017 compared with the 9,400 who came in August 2016.
(photo credit: RAANAN COHEN)