The Israel Hotel Association's economic department reported last week of 2.1 million stays recorded throughout the month of July in Israel's
hotels – a 6% drop compared to July of 2008.
Tourists' hotel stays saw a 17% drop compared to last year (about 680,000 compared to 821,000), while Israelis' stays saw a 1% rise compared to last year (about 1.4 million stays).
The national room occupancy totaled 66%m, compared to 71% last July – a 6% drop. Eilat recorded an 85% occupancy, Tel Aviv – 76%, Herzliya – 72%, Haifa – 70%, the Dead Sea and the kibbutzim – 66%, Tiberias – 55%, Jerusalem – 53%, and Nazareth – only 50%.
The drop in tourist stays is remarkable in light of the fact that the Maccabiah Games were held in Israel in July. The sportive event did help hotels in central Israel (Tel Aviv, Netanya and Herzliya) record relatively low drops – only 1-7%, but the rest of the country saw particularly sharp declines.
The highest decline was reported in hotels in Tiberias – 41%. Jerusalem recorded a 30% drop, the kibbutzim – 29%, Eilat – 20% (about 39,000 stays), the Dead Sea – 18%, Nazareth – 17%. Haifa, on the other hand, registered a 9% rise in tourists' hotel stays.
A map dividing Israelis' stays across the country reveals that Eilat was responsible for 55% of them – some 772,000 stays (a 5% rise compared to July of last year). Jerusalem saw a 20% rise, Herzliya – about 9%, Tiberias – 5%, and Tel Aviv – 4%. A decline in the number of stays was registered in Netanya (35%), Haifa (16%), Nazareth (7%) and the kibbutzim (2%).
Since the begging of the year (January-July), an 11% drop has been recorded in the overall number of hotel stays compared to the same period last year, totaling 10.8 million stays. A 26% drop was recorded in tourist stays (about 4.4 million stays in total), while Israelis' stays saw a 2% rise (6.4 million stays).
The average national room occupancy totaled 56% - a 15% drop compared to the same period last year.
According to Naor Chen, vice president of the Israel Hotel Association, "The current state of affairs received from hotels in Jerusalem, Tiberias and the north in regards to July points to a change in the mix of tourists arriving in Israel. In July, as in the preceding months, there was a drop in group tourism, which influenced tourists' average length of stay in Israel.
"The Central Bureau of Statistics and the Tourism Ministry have reported of a moderate drop in the number of tourists who arrived in July this year compared with last year, despite the drop in the number of hotel stays. This month too, the gap points to an increasing phenomenon of visiting relatives, while shortening the length of stay in Israel."
Chen added, "We hoteliers believe that a reinforced marketing campaign in the main target countries – the US, Russia, Germany and France – is the only thing that could make the longed for difference in the mix of tourism movement to Israel and in its volume.
"The fall 2009 campaign is the key to returning the group movement. This matter will be discussed at the joint marketing forum of the tourism industry and Tourism Ministry."
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