Israeli tourism to US on the rise
US Chamber of Commerce tourism forecast predicts Israeli entrances to US to continue to rise in coming years, and jump from 18th to 16th on list of countries exporting tourism to US
Despite the United State's decision not to exempt Israelis from visa requirements to enter the country, the growth rate of Israeli tourism is expected to be 2.5 times higher than the general growth rate of incoming tourism to the US.
Israel is currently 18th place on the list of countries exporting tourism to the US – not including Canada or Mexico – and is expected to reach the 16th place by 2013.
According to data from the US Chamber of Commerce's travel and tourism department, in the year 2008, 332,000 Israeli entrances to the US were recorded – an all-time record high and a 6% rise from 2007.
Last week the Chamber of Commerce's travel and tourism department published its forecast for the years 2009-2013, according to which a 2% drop in Israeli entrances to the US is expected this year, mainly due to the economic crisis.
This decline, however, is significantly lower than the predicted 7% drop in general incoming tourism to the US.
According to the forecast, only 327,000 Israeli tourists will enter the US in 2009, while 23 million tourists from around the world, not including Mexico and Canada, are expected to visit.
This year, Israel is expected to take 18th place on a list of the leading countries that export tourism to the US.
In the coming years, however, the increase in Israeli tourism to the US will be relatively larger than the average increase and is even expected to surpass the entrance of tourists from Switzerland and Sweden, the two countries placed above Israel on the list of tourist entries.
This will cause Israel to move up two spots and, in the years 2012 and 2013, take 16th place with some 425,000 tourist entries.
The American data shows that between the years 2009-2013, Israeli tourist entries to the US is expected to rise by 28%, compared to a 10% general rise.
Countries ahead of Israel on the list of tourism to the US are: England, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, Australian, Spain, Holland, Indian, Ireland, Venezuela, China, Columbia, Sweden and Switzerland.
