Tourism to Israel continues to surge, according to Rami Levi, Israel's Tourism Ambassador to North and South America. Close to 100,000 visitors came to the country in June, a 44% increase over June 2002, and 1.2 million visitors are expected to come to Israel in 2003, according to Tourism Minister Binyamin Elon. Levi said that tourism has risen sharply every month this year. Tourism from North America makes up approximately 25% of the total number of tourists to Israel. "The new optimism in our part of the world is making a significant difference," Levi observed, "and we see it daily, as more and more tourists arrive."
In a related report, the Jewish Agency announces that after three years of declining educational tourism in Israel, 3,000 youths will have arrived by the end of this summer. Tzvi Lev-Ran, of the Agency's Educational Department, reports that this represents a 100% increase over last year's number. Twelve hundred youth have already arrived.