Summer tourism rebounds after taking a hit during Gaza war

Israel’s tourism industry has been showing early signs of recovery, with the number of tourists entering the country increasing over the past year, although numbers are substantially lower than those Israel enjoyed before last summer’s war with Gaza, which brought about a serious drop in incoming tourism.

In July 2015, 245,000 tourists entered Israel, 26% more than in July 2014 during the onset of the conflict — but nowhere near the 346,200 tourists that visited the Jewish state in May 2014, the month preceding the operation.

The numbers in tourists in July were similar to 2013 levels.

The figures were provided by the Tourism Ministry.

Over July, 222,000 tourist entries were by air, while 24,000 tourists came through the border crossings, with 19,000 coming through the border with Jordan and 5,000 from Egypt. 34,000 visitors were day visitors and stayed in the country no more than 24 hours.

All-in-all, during the period January-July 2015, 1.65 million tourists entered Israel, 13% less than the same period in 2014 and 1.6% less than 2013.