Tourism continues to rise, the Tourism Ministry reports. In January of this year, 94,000 tourists entered Israel, 29% more than in January 2003 and 34% over January 2002. Over 80,000 entries, or 86%, were by air. "Tourism is the number-one growth engine of the economy," said Tourism Minister Benny Elon. He noted that Israel Tourism Week opens today with the Prime Minister's Tourism Convention. "Tourism Week will restore and re-energize tourism traffic to Israel, and will show the public the importance and benefit of the tourism industry to Israel's society and economy," Elon said.
Elon, who formerly served as Dean of Yeshivat Beit Orot in Jerusalem, originally became Tourism Minister following the assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi in October 2001. He held the position until his party left the government in March 2002, and again since the formation of the current government one year ago. Minister Elon has frequently expressed his satisfaction at being in the position to continue the work of Calev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua bin Nun - the Biblical scouts sent by Moses who were the only two of the 12 scouts to bring positive appraisals of the Land of Israel.