Romanian tourists spend, on average, 6 nights in Israel and spend $763 per stay

I think I've already bored you with the articles about the lack of real official data on the number of Romanian and foreign tourists who spend their vacation in Romania . Our statistical data is based on the few reports made by hoteliers and guesthouse owners who work on the white market. The rest of the tourists do not exist in any official document - NOT EVEN AT ANAF. Many times, I have been criticized even by tourists that these official data do not help anything anyway. To understand once again why these figures help us, how the authorities can use statistical data, I give you a concrete case: Israel.

Over 120.000 Romanians visited Israel in 2019

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel, 4.5 million tourists visited Israel in 2019, an increase of 11% compared to 2018. The number of Romanians who traveled to Israel falls on the same upward trend, in 2019 it exceeded the threshold of 120.000 of people and a 13% increase compared to the previous year. Romanians spend about a week in Israel and spend an average of 763 dollars per person. The most sought-after period of the year for traveling to Israel is spring, with February and March being especially sought after by Romanian tourists, but also autumn, especially September, October and November. For the year 2020, the Ministry of Tourism in Israel aims to exceed the threshold of 130.000 Romanian tourists.

Pilgrimages and city breaks, the main reasons Romanians travel to Israel

Pilgrimages remain the main reasons for travel to Israel, with almost 60% of all trips to Israel being for the purpose of visiting the holy sites. About 20% of Romanian tourists travel for circuits and another 20% for business tourism, visiting relatives or relaxation. 56% of all trips to Israel are organized through a travel agency and 40% are organized individually.

"We observe a significant evolution in the number of individual tourists as well as a rejuvenation of Romanians traveling to Israel. Almost 50% of all tourists are between 40 and 60 years old, while the percentage of those between 20 and 40 years old exceeded 30%" said Ksenia Kobyakov, Director for New Market Development at the Ministry of Tourism from Israel.

The most visited places in Israel are the cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea

Focus on Eilat and the Negev Desert

"In addition to promoting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem within the "Two Cities. A Unique Vacation", we also focus on the Negev desert, where important hotel investments of 5-star brands such as Six Senses will appear. We want that in a maximum of 10 years, the Negev desert will become Israel's third major tourist product," added Ksenia Kobyakov, Director for the development of new markets at the Ministry of Tourism in Israel.

Investments in the hotel industry are constantly increasing

In 2019, 25.8 million overnight stays were recorded, almost half of which were made by foreign tourists. The number of nights spent in Israel has increased steadily from 2016 to now among foreign tourists, and the average occupancy rate in the hotel industry in Israel is currently 70% and approximately 56.000 hotel rooms are registered. Their number is projected to increase in the coming years. New players have announced their entry into the market, such as real estate companies Israel Canada, Nitsba or Azrieli, but already existing hotel chains have also declared that they will continue their expansion in Israel.

Israel - holiday destination for Romanian tourists

Israel is an important travel destination for Romanian tourists, appreciated for the pilgrimages organized here. Starting with 2017, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism has focused its efforts on promoting the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as two city break destinations in a single vacation, offering multicultural experiences , intense nightlife, gastronomic delights and opportunities for adventure tourism. Almost 100 weekly flights now connect Tel Aviv and Eilat to the main airports in Romania – Bucharest , Timișoara, Cluj, Iași and Sibiu. The year 2019 compared to 2016 recorded a 157% increase in Romanian tourists, and the prospects remain extremely positive for 2020, when over 135.000 Romanian tourists are expected at the destination.

What do you do when you don't go with the Church to Israel?! Adventures in the holy land full of night parties and armed soldiers

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