thread about tourism in Israel....

some about israeli tourism:
growth of tourist in 2005 comparing to 2004 year

the most tourist come to Israel from USA,France,UK and Germany

from asian countries the most tourists come from South Korea

growth 14% tourists from Australia and 11% from New Zealand

the most of tourists are christian pilgrims

There is growth, but the numbers before the intifada were even higher :(

yeah but give time to restore our tourism

i give! i give!
Its not my fault that we have a cease fire with Palestinian terror organizations and they are testing missiles near my house.. (about 8 km). scares the hell out of me.

will OK just believe!

I can't wait to contribute to the Israeli economy in 3 weeks!!!!!! I need some good falafel in my stomach already!

I can't wait to contribute to the Israeli economy in 3 weeks!!!!!! I need some good falafel in my stomach already!
hehehe:) enjoy

i give! i give!
Its not my fault that we have a cease fire with Palestinian terror organizations and they are testing missiles near my house.. (about 8 km). scares the hell out of me.

:hm:

I have a question :crazy:

Can't Israel just crush these 'terrorist' organizations...How do these little organizations in the palestinian territories compare to Hizbollah in Southern Lebanon!?

Cuz i know Hizbollah are pretty strong and have always been a pain in the ass of Israel, right?

:hm:

I have a question :crazy:

Can't Israel just crush these 'terrorist' organizations...How do these little organizations in the palestinian territories compare to Hizbollah in Southern Lebanon!?

Cuz i know Hizbollah are pretty strong and have always been a pain in the ass of Israel, right?

When in the news you hear about the suffering of the civilian population(Palestinian) - its Israel crushing terrorists.
So things are bad for us already, in the eyes of the world we are oppressors so we are limited in the force we can use in areas with non-militants. The terrorists take advantage of it and that is why they still exist.

Nevertheless we had success fighting terror in the last few years:
In 2001 there were more then 200(!!!) terror attacks behind the 67 borders and in 2004 there were less then 20. now there are none even though they try..
This data can be considered as a victory over terror, though in the current cease fire the organizations are rebuilding their abilities – the Islamic jihad in jenin is receiving an estimated amount of ¼ million dollars a month! And they are just a small branch.
During this cease-fire 3 people died in a town next to Gaza yesterday which lead to crossfire’s so motivation to harm us is still high and we cant do much about it because it means that we are “escalating” the situation.
So we will see things getting bad again.
Moral standards in the IDF are high but there are none in Palestinian organizations(therefore they are terrorist and not “militants” or “freedom fighters”).
The world forgot how they entered houses and cold-bloodedly murdered babies while they slept, but it remembers the dead Palestinian girl that was shot by mistake and misjudgment - this is not the same! Palestinians use children often to transport bombs or as “living bombs” as well as they use woman for that vary same thing, so soldiers are nervous - it’s the tragic reality.

The financing of the Palestinians by iran through Lebanon and hiznallah are another reason for why we cant have a final victory, after the IDF retrited from Lebanon, in that vary same year the intifada started. It simply means that:
a. the Palestinians see the conflict in Lebanon as a model of resistance.
b. Resources were moved from that front to the Palestinian front.

About hizballah: beside what I have said I can tell you that they are in a vary strong position, when Israel retreated from Lebanon the thinking was that Israel could return fire if it will need to. Now we see that the world won’t accept it, so hizballah has the ability to target all north Israel and influence our policies – we cant do nothing.
A war with hizballah means a war with Syria and even iran.

Without iran they don’t worth much, and if iran will be a democracy we will see peace.

But so far it looks as this conflict wont be resolved soon. And it’s a shame..

sorry it's not politic thread......

sorry zohar.. my bad

One of the best places for tourism news for Israel to look is at Globes.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=922148
360,000 travellers at Ben Gurion Airport over Shavuot
30,000 will pass through the Taba border crossing to Sinai during the Shavuot holiday weekend.

Shir Elron 9 Jun 05 12:31

The Israel Airports Authority is getting ready to serve 360,000 passengers at Ben Gurion Airport over the Shavuot holiday weekend, and 30,000 people passing through the Taba border crossing into Sinai. Airports Authority director general Gabi Ophir said extra teams would be placed at Ben Gurion Airport and at border crossing.

2,257 flights will arrive and depart at Ben Gurion Airport between June 9-19. The heaviest day will be Thursday June 16, with 40,000 passengers. Activity at border crossings is also expected to be heavy. 5,000 people are expected at the Yitzhak Rabin Israel-Jordan border crossing in the Arava. Ophir said the Airport Authority's successful model for the record passenger traffic over Passover will be re-implemented over the upcoming Shavuot holiday.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on June 7, 2005

Evangelists will create jobs’
Christian Evangelical tourist center to be built in north will solve region’s jobless woes, Bibi says
KARMIEL - Christian evangelicals to the rescue?
Another one million Christian evangelical tourists that would flock to the north of the country would solve the region’s unemployment crisis, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a conference on development of the northern Galilee region.
“The economic growth allows for another reform, the advancement of the periphery,” he said. “The solution is highways, land reform, and development of employment sources.”
According to Bibi, the major source of employment would be the “mega project of the Christian evangelical world center on the shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee.)”
The finance minister noted there are tens of millions of believers in the United States and elsewhere, including five million in China alone.
“We’re estimating a one million growth in the number of tourists a year,” Netanyahu said. “People need to organize this, maids, waiters, tour guides - thousands of jobs.”
Arabs protest
On another front, Education Minister Limor Livnat, who also spoke at the conference, said the inadequate education system in the north led to the expansion of gaps between the rich and the poor.
“This is the reason the percentage of Mizrahis (Jews of Middle Eastern origin) in senior academic echelons is tiny, about 3-8 percent, while the percentage of Arabs is one percent,” she said.
Meanwhile, dozens of Arab-Israeli activists demonstrated at the entrance to Karmiel to protest the conference, saying the initiative is meant to develop the Jewish sector in the north at the expense of the area’s Arab residents.
“Those who want to develop the Galilee should take the Arab population into account,” protester Muhammad Kna’an told Ynet, and added Arab-Israelis are facing serious problems but “nobody is looking at those problems, and instead they come to hold a conference and encourage Jewish emigration to the Galilee.”

China changed politic and adviced to chinese to visit Israel because Israel is the best tourist place for chinese....!
3,000 chinese visited Israel in 2004
13,000 in 2000
how many this year?

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/14/ART/948/290.html

new chart flight from UK to Eilat
from october 2005 till april 2006 300 chart flight from Uk to Eilat!
UK joined to countries like:Sweden,Denmark,Russia and Norway

Speaking of Chinese in Israel, are there many Chinese restaurants over there? I mean in the US being Jewish is synonymous with eating Chinese food, especially since they have the only restaurants open on Christmas and Easter.

yeah many chinese and thaies in Israel also chinese/thai restaurants!

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/
Tourist overnights up 62% in May

Half of May tourist overnights were in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Shir Elron 27 Jun 05 11:40

Tourist overnights were up 62%, and Israeli overnights down 4% in May 2005, compared with May 2004, according to figures from the Israel Hotel Association.
Israeli overnights amounted to 917,000, 60% of the total, and tourist overnights 600,000, 45% less than in the peak year of 2000.

Total overnights amounted to 1.5 million in May, 15% more than in the corresponding month last year. The nationwide room occupancy rate was 54%, 17% higher than in May 2004.

Hotel Association chairman Avi Rosenthal said that the upward trend in overnights was continuing, and was greater than the increase in incoming tourism in May, signaling a change in the composition of tourism. The number of tourists using various tourism services, such as restaurants, taxis, and souvenirs, is rising.

Half of May tourist overnights were in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Hotel overnights rose everywhere in Israel. The steepest increase was in Tiberias, where overnights were up 175% to 28,000.

50% of Israeli overnights were in Eilat, 2% more than in May 2004. Israeli overnights increased 14% in Jerusalem, but fell in Tiberias, the Dead Sea, Haifa, kibbutzim (collective settlements), Tel Aviv, Netanya, and Herzliya.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on June 27, 2005

707,000 tourists from first month till may....
11,000 from S.Korea(growth 28%)
9,000 from Poland(140%!!!!!!)
170,000 from USA (24%)
116,000 from France (26%)
17,000 from Scandivian countries (26%)
18,000 from S,America (23%)

159,000 tourist in june......:)

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/
Tourist entries up strongly

Entries by air rose by an annualized 62% in the second quarter of 2005, following a 54% rise in the first quarter.

Zeev Klein 19 Jul 05 13:49

Israeli tourism is rapidly recovering. An analysis of Central Bureau of Statistics trend figures shows that tourist entries by air rose by an annualized 62% in the second quarter of 2005, following a 54% increase in the first quarter. The average monthly rise in the second quarter was 4.1%, compared with 3.7% in the first quarter.

According to seasonally adjusted figures, there were 145,000 tourist entries per month by air in the second quarter, compared with 123,000 in the first quarter, a 17.9% increase, and 72% in annual terms.

Tourist entries totaled 159,000 in June 2005: 133,500 by air, 22,900 by land, 2,000 on stop-over cruises, and 600 by sea.

There were 868,000 visitor arrivals in Israel in January-June 2005 (28% more than in the corresponding period last year), including 751,700 by air (25%) and 110,700 by land (48%).

33,500 tourists entered Israel on direct flights to Eilat in January-June, 30% more than in the corresponding period last year, and 3,800 came on stop-over cruises.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on July 19, 2005

yes the stupid world doesnt understand when tourism into israel is recovering it also means tourism in palestinian cities goes up. In bethlehem (Beit Lehem, the ancient hebrew city turned palestinian) tourism also rose 30 percent..