Ben-Gurion Airport
Photo: Motti Kimchi
July 2015 sees all-time record for travel abroad by Israelis
Israelis are vacationing in droves: Last month recorded more departures than ever before with a 20.7% jump, and August looks poised to be even busier at Ben-Gurion Airport.
The dollar and euro rates being low, temperatures being at a record high or the climbing vacation prices inside Israel – whatever the reason, the facts are undeniable: July 2015 was a record-breaking month for Israeli tourists departing on vacations, and it looks like August will see that record broken once more, with 2015 becoming an overall record year for outgoing Israeli tourism.
According to figures published by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 777,500 Israelis departed on vacations abroad in July 2015 by air, land, and sea. In comparison, that number is 20.78 percent higher than the July 2014 equivalent and 23.77 percent higher than in July 2013, when 673,000 people departed on vacations from Israel.
Land departures increase as well
Detailed statistics on means of departure tell an interesting tale: It turns out that the number of Israelis leaving by airplane was 719,000, 20.7 percent higher than in July 2014, and 23.4 percent than in July 2013.
Land departures also saw a significant increase: 49,800 Israelis traveled to Egypt and Jordan by land, an increase of more than 35 percent compared to July 2014, and nearly 50 percent higher than in July 2013.
Further statistics reveal that 2015 has featured record numbers since the beginning of the year, with the first seven months of 2015 seeing 3,160,000 departures by Israelis, an 11.6 percent increase compared to the equivalent time period in 2014, and 22.6 percent higher than the 2013 equivalent.
