More than three million tourists entered Israel in 2008, eclipsing the record set in 2003 by 13 percent, according to figures released Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The numbers were 32 percent more than those recorded last year. More than 200,000 came in December, a four percent rise over 2007 figures.

The United States set a new record as the leading source for incoming tourism with 617,000 on the year, slightly less than the combined total for second place Russia and third place France combined. The Russian figure of 356,000 represents a rise of 84 percent over last year.

Tourism is a 40-billion shekel industry, according to Treasury figures cited by News 1. The website says 160,000 people owe their jobs to the industry, 90,000 of them directly.

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