Israel Records Highest Number of Tourist Arrivals Since COVID-19 Outbreak
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics announced Sunday that July saw the highest number of tourists arriving in the country – 249,900 – since COVID-19’s appearance in early 2020. About 1.26 million foreign tourists – an average of 180,000 per month – have arrived in the Jewish state since the beginning of 2022. This is eight times as high as the tourist arrivals over the same January-July period last year, when the monthly average was only 22,314 tourists. But the numbers have still not reached their pre-pandemic levels; in February 2020, for example, around 343,800 tourists arrived in Israel. Israel reopened to international tourism in November 2021, first allowing the entry of vaccinated and recovered tourists, and then in March, it permitted the entry of nonvaccinated tourists, as well. More than 1 million Israelis traveled abroad in July 2022, compared to 766,700 in June 2022 and just 3,000 in April 2020.