Israeli Hotel Prices Down in 2017, Study Shows

YERUSHALAYIM
A hotel at sunset in Tel Aviv. (Esther Rubyan/Flash90)

The average overnight stay in an Israeli hotel or rented vacation apartment fell 15 percent in shekel terms in the first quarter of 2018 over the cost a year earlier, a study by the Hotels Combined organization said. According to the study, a night in an average hotel in Israel cost NIS 500 in the first quarter of the year, compared to NIS 585 a year earlier. In dollar terms, the price was down as well – from $152 a night in 2017 to $145 a night this year.

According to the group, much of the reason for the price drop was due to the increased use of apps like AirBnB to rent short-term apartments, a growing substitute for hotel stays. While most hotel stays are in Israel’s largest cities, including Yerushalayim, Tel Aviv and Haifa, there are vacation apartments all over the country.

Prices in the largest cities remained more or less the same during the period, but in Netanya, prices for holiday apartments fell from an average of $200 a night to $121 a night. In Tel Aviv, a night in a vacation apartment cost $130.

The lower cost of overnight stays is a positive development, said Eyal Segal of Hotels Combined. Vacations in Israel are generally expensive, to the extent that many Israelis prefer to vacation in destinations like Greece or Cyprus, where hotel costs are significantly lower. The lower costs for overnight stays is likely to encourage more Israelis to vacation locally, as well as make it easier for foreign tourists to afford vacations here, he added.

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