1.9 million travelers visited the National Parks and Nature Reserves throughout the country during July-August 2019, including Israelis and foreign tourists who stayed in Israel during this period, according to the summary of tourist movement during the summer months currently being conducted by the Nature and Parks Authority.
Of all site visitors during these two months, approximately 1,500,000 were Israeli and approximately 400,000 were foreign tourists.
The most popular site during this period was the Gan Hashlosha (Sakhne) National Park with about 135,000 hikers, followed by the National Parks of Masada with about 134,000 hikers, Caesarea with about 128,000 visitors, the Snir Nature Reserves with about 101,000 hikers and Nahal Daliot (Majrasa) with about 99,000 travelers.
Among Israelis, the top two sites were the Sakhne with about 132,000 Israeli travelers and Nahal Snir with about 100,000 travelers.
Among the most popular with foreign tourists were Masada with about 104,000 tourists and Caesarea with about 54,000 tourists.
At the same time, there were also a large number of night stays in the Nature and Parks Authority night parks, with some 120,000 travelers choosing to stay in them during July, when among the top camping sites were the night parks in Ma’ayan Harod, Hurshat Tal, Achziv, Ashkelon and Masada.
The data refers to sites that are paid for and do not include Palmachim Beach National Park.
Raya Shurkey, director of the public and community division of the Nature and Parks Authority, said: "During the summer months we invested a lot of resources and held a variety of activities for the whole family in a selection of national parks and nature reserves, including afternoon and evening activities. Many visitors from the Arab sector also celebrated the Eid al-Adha holiday in the National Parks and Nature Reserves, and hikers from the Haredi sector also took advantage of the intersession vacations for trips in the reserves and parks. In the meantime, we set up about 20 informational and explanatory stations throughout the country where we guided our travelers and equipped them with rules for safe travel."