HYDERABAD: Israel recorded a growth of 13 per cent in tourist arrivals from India in 2016 over the previous year and it hopes to maintain the double digit growth figures in 2017 as well, senior officials said here.
As many as 44,672 Indian tourists visited the West Asian country last year, they said.
“Israel is an emerging destination for the Indian traveler and travel has been growing from India to Israel over the last couple of years.
“We are working towards increasing our leisure and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) travelers while continuing our focus on existing segments using different mediums, including investing in advertising campaigns and continue to build and strengthen our travel trade relationships in the Indian market,” said Hassan Madah, Director of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, here.
He said three million foreign tourists visited Israel in 2016 and the number was 2.8 million in 2015.
As part of their campaign to promote tourism in Israel, a road show was held in a networking workshop format. The campaign would be conducted in the second phase in summer, he said.
Replying to a query, Madah said the concerns over political unrest in Israel were a bit exaggerated and asserted Israel is safe for tourists.
The city of Tel Aviv, the historic city of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea are among the major tourist attractions in the country, he added. -PTI
