Covid Concerns Crowd List for Israelis Planning Vacations

Israelis who are planning vacations in these days of the Delta variant are taking into consideration first and foremost, how pandemic conditions will impact their trips.

While price was still the single most important consideration in vacation planning, vaccination rules, testing, quarantines and other restrictions combined to be the dominate factors, according to a survey conducted by travel agency Agoda in collaboration with Geocartagraphia.

Some 18% of respondents said that trip price was the most important consideration, much less than the number of people who in normal times would choose price as the most important priority, Globes noted.

Seventeen percent said that flexibility to cancel until the last minute, taking into account the frequent changes in health regulations because of the virus, was their highest priority in selecting a destination.

16.3% are most concerned about hygiene issues, including cleanliness in hotels and the proportion of staff who are vaccinated.

Next were the 16% who rated not being required to enter isolation on returning to Israel as their top priority. Thus, Vienna, Budapest and Prague are especially popular with Israelis right now because they don’t have to isolate after returning from Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which are among very few ‘green’ countries.

15.3% of Israelis said they would prefer a destination that allowed in only people who are vaccinated and/or have recovered from Covid; and 13% said that it was most important that there was no requirement to go into isolation when entering their destination country; 5% said that the instructions in the destination country, likely having to wear masks, was the most important factor.

Not surprisingly, given the complications of travel abroad, 43% of Israelis said they would prefer to vacation inside Israel (the high occupancy rate in Eilat despite the high prices testifies to this).