Jerusalem. A declinein foreign tourist stays.
Photo: Sharon Gabay
Hoteliers report 11% decline in stays in 2015
The Israel Hotel Association published the statistics that show a significant drop in the number of nights tourists from abroad spent at Israeli hotels in the past year. Israeli tourist stays, however, have risen.
Statistics published Monday by the Israel Hotel Association (IHA) show that the crisis in the Israeli tourism industry is ongoing, and that the year 2015 ended with an 11 percent decline in foreign tourist stays compared to 2014, and a 16 percent decline compared to 2013, which was a peak year.
The figures show that the number of foreign tourist stays stood at just 8.2 million, with 13.5 million stays by Israelis (a rise of 4 percent compared to 2014). The overall calculation of stays in hotels shows a decline of two percent compared to 2014, and a four percent decline compared to 2013.
Eilat. A decline in foreign tourist stays.
It should be mentioned that the number of hotel rooms in Israel increased by one percent in 2015, compared to 2014, and four percent when compared to 2013. The IHA statistics also do not take into account tourists stays that occur in places other than hotels (such as rented apartments, with family and friends, etc.).
Tourism industry leaders have called for Tourism Minister Yariv Levin to help businesses by using the Ministry's budget to market well to foreign travelers, as well as work to convince Israeli companies to spend their organized company trips in Israel, rather than taking their employees on vacations abroad.
