The Tourism Ministry announced today that this past month of April saw 135,900 tourist entries to Israel - a whopping 93% increase over April 2003. Tourism for the first four months of the year is also up significantly; 433,660 tourists entered the country, 86% more than the same period last year.
Tourism Minister Benny Elon noted the increased tourist traffic to Israel with satisfaction, and said that the ministry's direct and focused marketing efforts in the designated countries were now bearing fruit. He said that at current rates, the tourism industry would register 1.3 million entries in 2004, meeting the goal set by the Tourism Ministry for this year.