Tourist arrivals were down by 30% in the first two weeks of the fighting. Hotels in Israel expected to have their best August in five years and now face occupancy levels fallen to 70% from 90% in June
With hundreds of Hezbollah "Katyusha" rockets continuing to fall daily on northern Israel, the impact on Israel's $3 billion tourism industry is mounting.
The Israeli government had been predicting 2.4 million visitors this year, a 25% increase over 2005. Spokeswoman for Israel's Tourism Ministry said last week that travel agencies catering to foreign guests are already writing off 2006.
The ministry’s preliminary figures show that tourist arrivals were down by 30% in the first two weeks of the fighting. Further, tourists cancellations are gathering steam for the Jewish High Holidays (September) as the war in the north continues, sparking fears by industry professionals that it could take up to a year-and-a-half for tourism to recover.
El Al is known to be badly affected by the crisis, but so far made no comment. It is however known that the company's load factor at this time of year is traditionally close to 100%, but planes are now about 75% full.
The hotels in Israel expected to have their best August in five years and now face occupancy levels fallen to 70% from 90% in June.
The Bank of Israel said in a report last week that the hit to the tourism industry could rub off nearly half a percentage point off of gross domestic product growth this year. But for Israel's travel industry, the decline is likely to be far worse.
