June tourism to Israel - record high

The Ministry of Tourism announced that a record 262,000 tourists and day visitors entered Israel in June, 1% more visitors than in June 2010. Cruise travel to Israel also reached an all-time high in June with the confirmed arrival of 50,000 tourists and crew docking in the Israel port cities of Ashdod and Haifa
 
Last week’s announcement from the Ministry of Tourism that a record 262,000 tourists and day visitors entered Israel in June, 1% more visitors than in June 2010, and 25% more than in June 2009 was positive in other criterias as well: Tourist entries (tourists who stayed for more than one night) also reached an all-time high of 228,300 in June (87% of total visitors), 7% more than in June 2010 and 4% more than in June 2009.
 
The figures say 1.6 million visitors arrived in H1/.11, similar to the 1.63 million visitors in the first half of 2010, suggesting that this will be a record year for tourism. Some 1.4 million of the entries were tourists, 4% more than in the first half of last year. According to June reports, 1,161,914 passengers passed through Ben Gurion Airport on 9,055 international and domestic flights in June.                                               
 
There were 1,093,689 international passengers in June, 11.25% more than in June 2010. The number of international flights rose by 9.36% to 8,220 flights in June, compared with the corresponding month. Ben Gurion Airport handled 68,225 domestic passengers in June, 24.4% more than then 54,838 domestic passengers in June 2010. Israeli airlines carried 434,388 passengers in June, 39.7% of all passengers at Ben Gurion Airport during the month, but 2.5% fewer than in June 2010.
 
The greatest increases in departing passengers in June, compared with the corresponding month, were to Ukraine, Greece and the Netherlands.
Some 40,900 tourists arrived on direct flights to Eilat in the first half, 38% more than in the first half of last year.
 
Cruise travel to Israel also reached an all-time high in June with the confirmed arrival of 50,000 tourists and crew docking in the Israel port cities of Ashdod and Haifa. Israel has seen a steady increase in cruise travel over the past two years with the arrival of 169,200 cruise visitors in 2010, a 250% increase compared to 2009. Also, approximately 68,000 cruise travelers arrived in Israel between January and April 2011, a 37% increase compared to the same period last year.