The number of foreign tourists in January soared 57 percent more than in the same month last year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The Tourism Ministry is aiming for a 30 percent increase in tourism for the entire year, which it hopes will end with 2.8 million tourists having visited the country.

The strong shekel is an inducement for tourists to spend dollars, which gives them more for their money, but an offsetting factor is the slowdown in the American economy and the aftershocks in the rest of the world.