November’s Tourism Numbers Best Ever for the Month

There was a 16% increase in the number of tourists entering Israel in November 2019 compared to the same month a year earlier, numbers release Tuesday showed. Compared to November 2017, the current numbers were about 40% higher, with a total of 451,000 tourists entering the country in November this year.

The November numbers helped push the annual tourist rate to the country’s highest ever for the first eleven months of the year. So far in 2019, over 4.2 million tourists entered the country. By the end of November 2018, that figure was 3.8 million, itself a record number at the time. So far, tourism is up overall by 10.7% in 2019 compared to 2018.

Of those visiting in November, 378,000 arrived by plane, 15.5% more than in November 2018. 73,500 entered via land border facilities, 19.5% more than in November of last year and 45.3% more than in November 2017. 51,700 of those entered Israel for a single day before returning to Jordan or Egypt, compared to 30,400 in November 2018 and 29,000 in November 2017.

Commenting on the data, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said “I am happy that we are again coming close to the record of the number of tourists entering the country in a single year. I expect that we will finish the year with an additional half million tourists, which will put us over the top. Incoming tourism contributed NIS 21 billion to the economy so far this year, and increased Israel’s standing in the world.”