A comprehensive internal survey conducted by the Tourism Ministry has revealed significant growth in positive sentiment toward Israel as a travel destination among high-income travelers in East Asia, prompting a strategic pivot in the country's tourism marketing efforts.
The wide-scale survey, conducted in July 2025 among 12,000 respondents from 13 countries, found that 49 percent of Chinese respondents expressed interest in vacationing in Israel in the coming years, while 34 percent of Korean respondents shared similar sentiments. The survey targeted individuals aged 25 and older with valid passports, all from high-income brackets, to gauge perceptions of Israel as a travel destination across Asia.
The findings showed particularly strong improvement in how Chinese travelers view Israel, with 62 percent reporting that their perception of the country as a holiday destination has improved. The Philippines showed comparable growth, with 48 percent of respondents reporting improved perceptions. When asked to rank Israel among the top five most attractive vacation destinations from a list of 10 countries, 47 percent of Chinese respondents, 44 percent of Filipinos, 37 percent of Indians and 24 percent of Koreans included Israel in their top five.
The results arrived during the formation of the strategy and helped refine it. Tourism Minister Haim Katz has prioritized opening new markets with an emphasis on Asia, viewing regions like Korea, China and the Philippines as areas where return on tourism investment shows the strongest potential.
The new strategy took concrete form this week with a Protestant Leaders Seminar in Seoul, organized by the Israel Government Tourism Office. Held at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, the event brought together about 200 prominent leaders from Protestant churches across Korea and key partners from the local tourism industry. The Korean market represents significant growth potential, with about 60,000 tourists from South Korea visiting Israel in 2019, a figure the ministry aims to increase.
During the seminar, Noga Sher-Greco, director of religious tourism marketing at the Tourism Ministry, presented data showing the recovery of Israel's tourism industry following the war and highlighted new initiatives and attractions. Eight Korean travel agencies specializing in pilgrimage tours held an exhibition offering travel packages and group booking consultations, while airlines including Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways, LOT Polish Airlines and Uzbekistan Airways presented their updated flight schedules to Israel.