3.4 million tourists arrived in Israel in the year 2011

Despite the global economic crisis and the geo political situation in the Middle East, 2011 witnessed the highest number of tourists ever with the exception of 2010.
 
More than 3 million tourists visited Israel last year, the vast majority of them staying for at least one night, making 2011 the second most voluminous year for incoming tourism, – 2% less than 2010.
 
Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, noted in a press release that “despite the economic crisis and the geo political situation in the year 2011, the economic revenue reached a record high which stood at 35 billion NIS.
 
Based on the information provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics, which was published last week, Israel's popularity as a tourist destination remained relatively steady, dropping just 2% from the record levels of 2010. 2.8 million were tourists who stayed for at least one night, 1% higher than 2010.
 
542,000 visitors arrived for a one day visit in Israel, most of them from Russia, Poland and the Ukraine. Out of the one day visitors, 237,000 arrived on cruise ships (an increase of 41%).
 
In December 2011, 263,000 visitors visited Israel, a decrease of 2% compared to December 2010, out of those visitors, 215,000 visitors were tourist entries, a decrease of 1% compared to December 2010 and 48,500 one day visitors – 7% less then December 2010.