With a recorded growth of 21 per cent in tourist arrivals in 2018, Israel is fast picking up as the top travel destinations for Indians. Approximately 70,800 Indian travellers visited the country from January to December 2018.
This tourist influx has led to $5.8 billion revenue for Israel in 2018 alone with India on the 12th position for incoming tourism.
Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) attributes this to direct air operations from New Delhi to Tel Aviv and reduction in its visa fee to INR 1,100 from its previous INR 1,700 for Indian citizens along with the initiation of Fast Track visa processing.
Furthermore, after looking at the growing demand, Air India expanded its frequency to five flights a week and Israeli carrier El Al also introduced a new Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with increased seat capacity on its Mumbai-Tel Aviv route.
Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India & Philippines said, “2018 has been an outstanding year for Israel Tourism in India and worldwide as we welcomed a record-breaking 4.12 million tourists into the country. With a rapid increase in leisure outbound trips, India is an important market for us possessing tremendous potential to become one of the key source markets for Israel in the coming years”.
Jessica Goel
Image credit: Dana Friedlander
