Travelers at Tel Aviv Airport after most flights were canceled (Anatolia)

Data from the Israeli Bureau of Statistics revealed that inbound tourism to Israel during the last quarter of 2023 is the worst since the Al-Aqsa Intifada at the beginning of the current millennium, with the exception of the Corona period, attributing the matter to the repercussions of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation launched by the Palestinian resistance on the seventh of last October. .

Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the losses of the Israeli tourism sector have continued, as most international tourism companies have canceled their trips to the country, and the Israeli company El Al is now operating about 80% of flights to Israel, with most flights of other international companies halting.

Figures from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics show that 180,000 visited Israel during the last quarter of last year, and this number includes Israeli expatriates, which represents a decline of 81.5% on an annual basis compared to the year 2022, when the number of tourists in the last quarter reached 930,000 tourists.

The total number of tourists - according to figures issued by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics - during the entire past year reached 3 million tourists who visited Israel, compared to 4.5 million in 2019, and Israel expected to receive 5.5 million visitors in 2023.

The number of tourists arriving to Israel during the last three months of 2023 compared to 2022:

  • October 2023: 89 thousand - October 2022: 333 thousand, a decrease of 73%.

  • November 2023: 38 thousand - November 2022: 333 thousand, a decrease of 88.5%.

  • December 2023: 52 thousand - December 2022: 266 thousand, a decrease of 80%.

Tourism constitutes about 3% of the Israeli economy and directly employs about 200,000 Israelis, according to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.

Last month, Director of the Chamber of Domestic Tourism Organizers in Israel, Yossi Fattal, warned of the continued impact of the war in the Gaza Strip on tourism in the country.

He told the Maariv newspaper at the time that 250 airlines were operating in Israel before the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, but only 45 are now operating, leading to isolation similar to that experienced by North Korea.

He added, "This has made Israel one of the most isolated countries in the world, as only 20% of flights are operated by airlines other than the Israeli company El Al."

Source: Agencies