Fewer tourists arrive in Israel in July
Statistics of incoming travelers last month reveal forecasts mistaken, with less arrivals than expected. North American economic crisis causes recession in tourism industry
The rise in hotel reservations noted since the beginning of the year was put to a halt in the month of July, according to the Israel Hotel Association.
Moreover, it turns out that the first half of the year saw a 32% rise in tourist hotel reservations in Israel as opposed to the first half of 2007, but that the month of July solely yielded a 12% increase and a 1% decrease was noted in the amount of Israeli accommodation requests.
The main reason for the decline in tourist lodging is the major slowdown of tourists from the United States due to the economic crisis in North America, despite all forecasts on an increased amount of tourism from the US in the summer season.
Tourism Ministry statistics reveal that while the number of general hotel accommodations rose between the months of January and July by 41% in comparison with 2007, the number of US tourists only rose by 21%.
In July the situation worsened. The increase in American tourists rose only by 4%, while the amount of tourists in general rose 22%. The tourism industry views this as the beginning of a tourism recession.
In June this was already noticeable, since the growth in general tourism to Israel stood at 35% while that of the Americans stood at 10%.
Shmuel Zurel, director-general of the Israel Hotel Association, said "the slowdown in the amount of incoming tourism is also our forecast for the last quarter of the year and the first quarter of 2009.
“While until now we were lucky to see sharp rises in the demand for Israel at levels of 30% and higher, since July we have entered a new reality. From now on, our main goal is to maintain the current market shares.”
Zurel also noted that the shift in the trends requires taking especially aggressive and intensive marketing measures.
“At autumn’s onset, which is the period in which decisions are made abroad regarding tourism for the 2008-2009 winter season, we must be at the height of the marketing campaign,” said Zurel.
