be the outrageous rates that are charged! Seriously, how much does an hotel employee make, 100,000 nis a month? NO. They maybe make just enough to keep them from starving. So why are the rates soooo very expensive. Frankly it is cheaper to go abroad on a weeks holiday than to stay a weekend in tel aviv. Doesn't something seem a little strange to someone? Maybe, just maybe, charging fair rates may counteract this. But that will never happen because we simply love to take advantage of others....

its only natural that tourists will look for cheaper accomodations and/or go to Arab areas where they will get better rates and a Thank you.

I work in a hotel in northern Israel and the prices are crazy !!! No wonder tourists shun hotels in Israel. Nights are overpriced and usually the service is not great. I think the Ministry of Tourism should help us by cancelling the tax on room rents. It'll also boost Israelis to go to hotels.

You must be kiddin' , hotel prices in Israel are not only outrageous but have you seen what the rooms look like?

I have for years now found it less expensive to travel out of the country than to visit Eilat or the Dead Sea. Even to visit Haifa for a few days I traded flats with the friends of a friend because of the hotel rates in both cities.

to pay the prices Israeli hotels charge. Add to that expensive restaurants...hell, even a lousy schawarma will cost you NIS30!

I am always amazed at comments complaining about Israel prices. I find the costs almost cheap compared to most urban areas of the US for hotel rooms (the food which is garbage, does not even count). In Israel many RESIDENTS living there not abroad, offer wonderful apartments attached to their homes. I regularly use Jerusalem Accommendation Association for stays. YOu just have to confirm the price in an email beforehand and stick to your guns when they try to say the prices were supposed to be changed on the website. One guy has lost my business more than once by trying to pull this stunt. Also not mentioned in the article are the smaller boutique hotels such as the Maxim on HaYarkon just a block from the US Embassy in TA--and across the street from the beach promenade and 3 blocks from the shuck. 100 shekels a night comes with a nice buffet breakfast. Point being Israel is very affordable and the food is beyond compare.

I tried to get a night at a near-the-beach hotel in Tel Aviv last week- and got prices from $300 to $450 dollars a night. Charging the same as New York City? What goes on here? And they had rooms available at those prices! They just didn't want to let them go at a price an average human being could afford. If the morons in Gaza had any common sense, (and we know they don't), they'd open some reasonably priced hotels on their beaches and rake in hundreds of millions in tourist dollars- giving jobs to thousands of people. Maybe Israel needs a boycott of their hotels to bring them down to earth. Any takers? Which hotel should we all agree to not visit?

something sounds fishy with these stats... Are there really that many tourists going to Egypt and Turkey with the current situation there? and how many of the hotel rooms in Egypt and Turkey are fully booked? I live near all the main hotels in Tel Aviv along the coast and the torusits, especially the gay and Russian tourists are all definitely staying in hotels. only the french tourists have holiday apartments...

I am a regular traveler to Israel, at least once a year, and I would not dream of staying in a Hotel. I should add that for business I travel to European cities and stay in hotels. The reason 'Why' is something every Israeli will understand, I hate being treated like a 'frier". Hotels are grossly overpriced -really very very expensive for 3-4 star hotels. And service, cleanliness and attitude toward tourists borders on the hostile. The Hotel and Tourist Association needs to get its act together or else customers will vote with their feet (as they should).

Israeli hotels want the one time Jewish tourist from America willing to grossly over pay as part of a package tour. At your standard Tel Aviv beach hotel, the rooms are mediocre, the beds right out of a youth hostel, and the prices grotesque. But the hotels do not care. Better Israel is not so reliant on tourism anyway - Egypt is paying for that reliance now. Tourists no longer come.

Maxim on Hayarkon is NOT 100 shekels a night. They charge $165, so not exactly a great deal either.

Its no secret Israeli hotels are overpriced and not as nice as foreign hotels. You just don't get value for money in Israel and now Lapid has ended the tax breaks for the tourists its going to just get worse. If I am going out of town for a few days in Israel I get a room to myself at a hostel. If I am going abroad I stay in a 2-3 star hotel for not much more than having a private room in a hostel. Eilat is probably one of the worst of the lot considering there is virtually nowhere thats not in the top p[rice bracket..

YNet overall quality of news lately plummeted.

Real cheap and real dangerous.. No thank you. KEEP BUILDING THE PRICE IS GREAT FOR BARGAINS.

KEEP BUILDING !!!!

The writer is comparing apples and oranges. There are 1.6 Billion Muslims in the world. There are about 16 million Jews tops. Of course the numbers in Arab countries are going to be higher. Through statistical analysis it is easy to demise this writers assertions. This article should be in "Mad Magazine". Not on ynet. Sheesh!

Dumb and greedy turisim industry in Israel, How can you visit Israel with extremely high prices in hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets

tourists, alone. And once West, sponsoring terror to pock around for real estate bargains, abates with understanding that Israel is not for anyone's taking, things will move to 1 million tourists a day. Once again, the numbers noted in article are false. But as far as accommodations, things will have to be rethough, fundamentally. Open tents and free food, some generals transportation lines... Hardly there is one man on this planet who wouldn't want to touch with own soles Ierushalaim's stones.

Max Mesezhnikov published stats as those went. I don't know what happened with YNet, but they publish inaccurate information lately. And the bias seem to be attuned to a single source. Usually this kind of behavior indicates financial troubles in publishing house. Now, those things are understandable. People fudge numbers often and always when they have agenda. But why would you talk this nonsense? There is hardly one man on our planet who doesn't want to put his soles on Ierushalaim stones. The question is to accomodate this sort of wave of people Israel will have to rethink tourism as a whole. It means open tents, free food... many things working very differently from today. Including major money making venues will have to switch from passive wall - ies to mass cultural events such as tenth of thousands of people attending Verdy's Aida at the footing of Masada, as an example. This way Israel can move to 1 million tourists a - day. By the way, I have posted similar about 1/2 day ago. I hope Ynet publishes one post out of two. But really, it's not important. The important message is numbers are wrong on one hand, and you are way off on estimating people interest in Israel.

The Hotels cater for short stay and business visitors..but by far the biggest Market is for Affordable Family Resorts yet is only catered for half heartedly Yes there may be Mini Kibbutz Versions but that's nowhere near whats needed...They need to be large self contained complexes that provide Water Activities, Leisure and Entertainment aimed at Families with children Given Israels small Coastline...Coastal Resorts are not possible but if you translate that into an Inland Desert Resort affordable for Israelis and Tourists - based on say the UK Inland Centre Parcs Model..combined with cheaper Air Travel opportunities this could have a dramatic effect on Tourism Numbers Quite apart from the great employment and career opportunities

Israeli hotels and B&Bs quote high prices, and sometimes they will come down. The hotels and others take as much as they can as they do not believe in repeat business. I've read on tripadvisor where people say they will never come back to Israel for its high prices and low quality of service. The hotels are counting on the rich Jews from North and South America and Europe. They seem to care nothing about the "average Joe". @ #3: Lower taxes on hotel stays, just means the hotel gets a perk it does not deserve. On the other hand, I do not think Bethleham has 50000 rooms where people stay when not in Jerusalem. I have not found a hotel in Jerusalem, Haifa or TA for less than $50 unless it came with pets. I suggest anyone who wants a good hotel at reasonable prices to check out the non-Jewish areas ALSO.

They are nasty and will not do anything for customers. Most hotels in TA fall into this category.

The Tourism office stats have been dodgy for years, each year they claim is better than the year before... There are of course no internal controls at any IL gov't bureau so they say whatever their bosses like to hear.

Basel Hotel Rehov Nordau Tel Aviv:the staff tries to overcharge the foreign customer:On the website they propose a superior room with extra acomodations, you enter the room , it is exactly as the standard room, except two chocoloate bars on the pillows and free access to the business room ( laughing out loud ) where you can read one copy of the Jerusalem Post.So you are charged a 15% higher price for NOTHING.Then the breakfast is fourth grade products fresh from the day before yesteryear.The staff is sloppy.

In the last 3-5 years, several wonderful sites have popped up which allow travelers to stay in apartments instead of expensive Hotels. For low budget travelers, try a site called 'Couchsurfing'. For those who want the comforts of a home but at a fraction of the cost of a hotel, try 'airnb'. There are many other sites and I'm sure many of the 30,000 apartments mentioned in this article are being rented out on a nightly basis. Please spread the word. The only way to get Israeli hotels to lower their prices is to use other alternatives. This includes Kibbutz guest houses which typically charge 900-1000 NIS ($250-$275) per night! If you don't mind spending the money on a 5 star hotel, at least use Travelocity's review section and stay in the places with the highest ratings. The people employed at these hotels work very hard and should be rewarded for their efforts.

Yes numbers are going up maybe around 2.8m visitors last year But in perspective...compare that with tiny Hong Kong attracting 22m visitors! Mainly visiting for....Shopping, Horse Racing and....Food..No beaches, little sunshine and yet.... We need to develop Desert Family Resorts in the Negev to serve the HUGE Affordable Family Holiday market Improve Shopping Offer and Experience - Especially for Luxury Branded Fashion, Art, Accessories, Music apart from Tourist Bric a Brac Promote Israeli Cuisine - from all over the world from roadside food to the finest haute cuisine...surely the very predictable ITB ads picturing a Tel Aviv Beach Babe are getting old hat....a recent picture on the Internet of a Tourist at a Haifa Food Stall was stunning! Promote the Israeli 'Big Breakfast'...Lots of people have heard about it and talk about it..but so many want to know more! Weve done great to get this far...but the next stage requires vision energy and entrepreneurial skill

I just went to airbnb and typed in Modiin, Israel where we plan to vacation this summer for 10 days. Entire furnished apartments (3 bedrooms) are available for less than $100 per night! We're a family of 5 so that works out to less money per person than we would have to pay in a youth hostel!