PRESS RELEASE
IT'S OFFICIAL:
2013 SETS NEW ALL-TIME HIGH
FOR TOURISM TO ISRAEL
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New York - January 16, 2014: 3.54 million visitors from around the world arrived in Israel in 2013, a new all-time high in travel to Israel, says Haim Gutin, Israel Commissioner for Tourism, North and South America.
The U.S. is the number one source of tourism to Israel (20% of tourists to Israel come from North America), followed by Russia, France, Germany and the U.K.
"It is an unheard of phenomenon that any country's largest and highest-spending source of tourism comes from 6,000+ miles away," observed Gutin, "which underscores the importance of the work we do in North America."
The month of December 2013 also set a new record high, with the arrival of 24% more tourists (visitors who stayed more than one night) than in 2012. Cruise travel to Israel also increased in 2013 with the arrival of a record 257,000 cruise visitors.
The Israel Ministry of Tourism estimates that 53% of all incoming travelers identify as "Christian" and 28% as "Jewish." The Ministry also estimates that the sites most visited by tourists to Israel are Jerusalem's Western Wall (68%) and Jewish Quarter (64%), the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (57%), the Via Dolorosa (55%) and the Mount of Olives (53%).
For more information about tourism to Israel, visit www.goisrael.com. |
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