The downward trend in incoming tourism continues in June: in the first half of 2009, 1.2 million visitors came to Israel, 20 percent less than the same period last year and 15 percent more than the same period in 2007. More than 1 million were tourists (a decrease of 18 percent), and 133,500 were day visitors (a decrease of 35 percent). According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 208,000 visitors came to Israel in June, a decrease of 13 percent on 2008 (240,000) and an increase of 16 percent on 2007 (180,000).
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov stated, “The immediate and intensive activities undertaken by the Tourism Ministry to maintain the activities of tourism industry bodies and tourism traffic to Israel have succeeded in slowing down the decline in incoming tourism.” Misezhnikov furthermore said that the increase of the Ministry’s marketing budget over the next two years to 500 million shekel and the cancellation of the Value Added Tax tourism levy “will help the tourism industry overcome the effects of the global economic crisis and to continue its important contribution to the economy both in terms of revenue and employment, especially in the periphery.”