Hotel stays: Fewer tourists, more Israelis

A drop of 27% in tourists' hotel stays has been registered in Israel in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period last year, the Israel Hotel Association (IHA) reported this week.

However, hotel stays of Israelis rose by 3% during this period.

A total of 8.7 million hotel stays (of both tourists and Israelis) have been recorded in first half of the year, a 13% decrease compared to last year.

The most significant drop in tourists' hotel stays, 35%, was noted in Jerusalem. Stays in Tel Aviv dropped by 24%; in kibbutzim by 32% and in Haifa by 31%.

"We are in the midst of a crisis in incoming tourism," said IHA Director General Shmuel Zurel. "We were faced with sharp drops at the end of 2008 following Operation Cast Lead that led to cancellations by travel agents throughout 2009.

"The economic crisis worsened the situation, and we have been paying the price ever since," he added. "In recent months we have been seeing a gap between the relatively moderate drop in the number of tourists arriving to Israel, and the sharper drop in the number of hotel stays.

"The main explanations for this are tourists cutting their vacations short or staying in neighboring countries."

According to Zurel, "Our current mission is to reverse the trend and resume growth by taking marketing steps. After the tourism minister returns from his marketing trip to the United States we will evaluate the situation and make operational decisions."

Meanwhile, the number of hotel stays of Israelis in January-June is estimated at 5 million, a 3% increase compared to the same period last year. The growth in domestic tourism is concurrent with the decrease in the number of Israelis vacationing abroad.