The Western Wall and Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem
An aerial view of the Sea of Galilee
Tel Aviv, the second-largest city in Israel
Tourism in Israel is one of the country's major sources of income, with a record 4.55 million tourist arrivals in 2019.[1] Tourism contributed NIS 20 billion to the Israeli economy in 2017, making it an all-time record.[2][3][4][5] Israel offers a plethora of historical and religious sites, beach resorts, natural sites, archaeological tourism, heritage tourism, adventure tourism, and ecotourism. For practical reasons, this article also covers tourism in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the occupied Golan Heights, since it is closely interconnected with the mass tourism in Israel. Over the millennia the Holy Land has been amongst the most visited lands in the world.[6]
Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the world with over 200 museums.[7][8]
In 2017, the most popular paid tourist attraction is Masada.[9] The most visited city was Jerusalem and the most visited site was the Western Wall. The largest percentage of tourists came from the United States accounting for 19% of all tourists, followed by Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy, Poland, and Canada.[4]
Religious tourism is very popular in Israel and in the West Bank. The Holy Land has historically been a piligramge site for Christians, Jews and Muslims for milienia. Many of the stories of the Old and New Testaments occur in what is now modern Israel, and thus a number of sites are considered holy in the eyes of Christians and Jews. As of 2007, the two most visited Jewish religious sites were the Western Wall and the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai;[10] The most visited Christian holy sites are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, and the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel.
The most visited Islamic religious places are the Masjid Al-Aqsa (the Temple Mount) in Jerusalem, and the Ibrahimi Mosque at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank town of Hebron.[citation needed]
^"Israel welcomes record-breaking 4.55 million tourists in 2019". jpost. December 29, 2019.
^Yan (January 3, 2018). "Israel sees record 3.6 mln inbound tourists in 2017". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018.
^Amir, Rebecca Stadlen (January 3, 2018). "Israel sets new record with 3.6 million tourists in 2017". Israel21.
^ abRaz-Chaimovich, Michal (December 27, 2017). "Record 3.6m tourists visit Israel in 2017". Globes.
^"Israel Sees Record 3.6 Million Tourists in 2017". Atlanta Jewish Times. January 4, 2018. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018.
^Nepi, Serena Di (December 1, 2013). "Travels to the "Holy Land": Perceptions, Representations and Narratives". Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
^"CNN's Top 10 Israel Museums Lists 4 Jerusalem Museums - iTravelJerusalem". www.itraveljerusalem.com. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
^Press, Viva Sarah (May 13, 2013). "13 must-see museums in Israel". ISRAEL21c. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
^Timor, Ilai (April 8, 2009). "Masada tourists' favorite spot in Israel". Ynetnews. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
^Irit Rosenblum & Eli Ashkenazi (January 7, 2007). "For first time, religious sites to get state budget of NIS 6.3M". Haaretz.
TourisminIsrael is one of the country's major sources of income, with a record 4.55 million tourist arrivals in 2019. Tourism contributed NIS 20 billion...
Birthright Israel. It is the largest educational tourism organization in the world. Participation in Birthright Israel has been called a rite of passage for young...
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the...
Medical tourism refers to people traveling abroad to obtain medical treatment. In the past, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed...
The World Tourism rankings are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as part of their World Tourism Barometer publication, which is...
Maoz Inon (born 1975) is an Israeli entrepreneur and peace activist. Inon has founded several tourism initiatives within Israel and the Middle East, including...
not the easiest place in which to travel but the effort is richly rewarded." The Palestinian tourism ministry and Israelitourism ministry have attempted...
Religion inIsrael is manifested primarily in Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. The State of Israel declares itself as a "Jewish and...
could be helping to increase war tourism, according to a Tel Aviv-based journalist. War tourisminIsrael is also covered in the 2011 documentary film War...
Healthcare inIsrael is universal and participation in a medical insurance plan is compulsory. All Israeli residents are entitled to basic health care...
of Israel List of endemic flora of Israel Historical maps of Israel National parks and nature reserves of Israel Outline of IsraelTourisminIsrael Wildlife...
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics Population of Israel by the Tourism Ministry Israel. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Issues in Israeli...
a form of skin ageing. Tourismin the Palestinian territories Tourismin Jordan TourisminIsrael Medical tourisminIsrael Ma’or, Zeev et al. "Antimicrobial...
1960) is an Israeli politician who has been serving since 2021 as the 11th president of Israel. He is the first president to be born inIsrael after its...
flora of Israel List of reptiles of Israel Ramat Gan Safari TourisminIsrael "CET(Hebrew)". Lib.cet.ac.il. Retrieved 14 March 2012. "The Israel Nature...
Tourismin India is 4.6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Unlike other sectors, tourism is not a priority sector for the Government of India...
develop rapidly after the Suez Crisis in 1956, with its tourism industry in particular starting to flourish. The Israeli Navy's Eilat naval base was founded...
has media related to Cities inIsrael. Cities and Communities inIsrael at the Israel Ministry of Tourism Geography of Israel at the Jewish Virtual Library...
Tourism (Peru) Department of Tourism (Philippines) Tourism Minister of Israel Ministry of Tourism (Mauritius) Minister of Tourism (New Zealand) Rivers State...
Israel, like many other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, experience adverse effects from climate change. Annual and mean temperatures are...
August 1980) is an Israeli politician and diplomat. He served as Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv from 2008 until 2013 and Acting Mayor in charge of education...
Arab citizens of Israel (Arab Israelis or Israeli Arabs) are the country's largest ethnic minority. They are colloquially referred to in Arabic as either...
Global Information
