Israel this year expects an increase of tourist flow from Russia at least 25%

The Israeli Ministry of Tourism continues to support tour operators and airlines to stimulate the flow of tourists from Russia. As a result of this program, in January, Ramon Airport near Eilat hosted 3 817 Russian tourists, which is 121% more than in the same month of the previous year.

In total, from September 8, 2019 to February 8, 2020, 129 subsidized flights from Russia were carried out and 20 173 guests from the Russian Federation arrived at Ramon Airport. This is 72% more than in the previous similar period. One of the reasons of the increase in demand for the Eilat route was the launch of budget transportation on flights of the Russian Pobeda low-cost airline.

The positive dynamics is also shown by the general tourist flow from Russia to Israel. In January, 22 thousand tourists visited the country – this is an 11% increase compared with January 2019.

Vladimir Shklyar, Director of the Department of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism in the Russian Federation and the CIS, said: “The Israeli Ministry of Tourism will continue to work to provide the growth of flow of Russian tourists. I’m sure that while maintaining the current trend, the number of Russian tourists will exceed 400 thousand people by the end of 2020.”

According to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, in 2019, 318 100 Russians entered the country - almost as much as in 2018. The figure does not include one day tourists and cruise ship passengers.