Summer Heat

Michal Korach

August – Summer camps have just ended, outdoor temperatures are sweltering, leisure and recreation sites are overflowing, and simultaneously Ben-Gurion Airport is filled with throngs of departing passengers. At times it seems that everyone is flying abroad.

It is interesting, therefore, to examine where Israelis chose to spend their summer vacation last year. 

The data indicate that about 562,000 Israelis travelled abroad in August 2012. Yet evidently a greater number of Israelis chose to spend August in Israel: 732,600 Israeli guests registered in hotels within Israel (in cities, kibbutzim, and moshavim; excluding rural hospitality, youth hostels, and field schools). 

Where did they choose to spend their vacation time? Eilat, the city of eternal sunshine, is the preferred destination of Israelis the year round, and especially in August. A total of 236,100 guests stayed at hotels during August, constituting 32% of all hotel guests in Israel for this month. Two additional destinations of choice for Israelis were the Dead Sea (79,300 – 11%) and Tiberias (73,000 – 10%). Apparently, the high temperatures characteristic of these places in general and during August in particular did not deter the multitudes of visitors who swarmed to these sites. It should be noted that Jerusalem also draws many Israelis and that some 69,000 Israeli guests stayed at the city’s hotels (9%).

Israel’s hotels also hosted tourists from abroad during August, but their numbers were significantly lower than the figures for Israelis – 232,000 overseas guests versus 732,600 Israeli guests. The preferences of tourists differ from those of Israelis, though, with Jerusalem being their first choice. A total of 65,200 overseas guests stayed at Jerusalem’s hotels during August, constituting 30% of the total number of overseas guests in Israel’s hotels. The second-most popular destination was Tel Aviv – 57,600 visitors from abroad (26%), and the third was Tiberias – 16,700 visitors from abroad (7%).

Source: Quarterly Statistical Report on Tourism and Hospitality Services, Central Bureau of Statistics

The Israeli Tourist Discovers Jerusalem

Omri Gaster

In recent years the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Development Authority have put much effort into transforming Jerusalem into an attractive tourist destination for foreign and Israeli tourists through, among other ways, a wide variety of festivals and cultural events. Do such efforts bear fruit? The answer to this question is customarily based on the number of overnight hotel stays. When it comes to the Israeli tourist, the outcome appears to be affirmative in all respects. 

The attached graph shows the change that took place in the number of overnight hotel stays of Israeli tourists in Jerusalem by month for the years 2008, 2010, and 2012. It appears that the peak months for internal tourism are July-August, with August having the highest number of overnight hotel stays by Israelis for each of the three years. 

Between 2008 and 2012 there was a 97% increase in the number of overnight stays of Israelis during the month of August: in 2008 this figure was 70,000 and in 2012 it reached 138,000.

Additional months during which an increase in the number of overnight stays is apparent are November and December. Between the years 2008 and 2012 there was a 44% increase in the number of overnight stays by Israelis during December: in 2008 the number of Israeli overnight stays was about 51,000 and in 2012 this figure was 74,000 overnight stays.

Source of data: Central Bureau of Statistics