Russian tourists favor Israel in travel poll

A recent poll conducted by the Tourism Ministry has found that 65% of Russians who travel are interested in spending their vacations in Israel. The poll found that the number of Russian tourists who visited Israel in February of 2010 was twice that recorded in the previous year.

Altogether 400,000 Russian tourists visited Israel in 2009, and the ministry is set to launch a spring campaign aimed at drawing more people from the country in 2010.

According to the poll, Israel’s main attractions are its beaches, the Dead Sea, and holy sites. However the state loses points for what tourists feel is a lack of sense of security and high prices.

The poll was conducted online among 400 Russians who had been abroad in the past three years or intended to go abroad soon. Of them, 21% said they had watched the Tourism Ministry’s campaign video and 88% of these said it was convincing.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov is scheduled to open Israel’s stand at Moscow’s most important tourism fair, the MITT. Not long ago, at the world’s largest tourism fair in Berlin, Israel was awarded first place in all categories.

More than 90,000 people are expected at the fair during the four days it will be open, around 3,000 of these being representatives of 157 different countries.

Misezhnikov claims a recent decision to allow Russians to enter Israel without a visa “has lifted the bureaucratic barricade and made Israel a close, accessible, and attractive destination, and despite the global economic crisis demands to visit Israel have grown in the past year.”