A record number of tourists visited Israel in the first half of 2018, according to statistics published today by the Tourism Ministry.
Some 2.1 million tourist entries were recorded between January and June, the most for any half-year period and the first time the 2 million threshold was passed, the ministry said in a statement.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin hails the achievement, saying in the statement that “the marketing efforts and activities that we are spearheading in the ministry are leading us to new records.”
The figure represents an increase of 19 percent over the same period last year, when 1.74 million tourists came to Israel, and a 26% increase over the first half of 2016.
The ministry says tourism injected NIS 12 billion ($3.3 billion) into the Israeli economy in the first half of 2018.
— Michael Bachner
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 9, 2018
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