Israel saw a tourist footfall of 4,120,800 in 2018, a 14% increase when compared to 2017, according to the Israel Ministry of Tourism.
When compared with 2016 numbers, it is a 42% increase.
The top incoming tourists were from United States, France, Russia, Germany, UK and Italy. The data shows that 40% of the arriving tourists visited Israel before.
The tourism ministry gave grants to entrepreneurs to encourage the establishment, expansion and conversion of hotels in various cities, from north to south. Jerusalem was noted as the fastest-growing tourism destination in the world by the leading international market research firm EuroMonitor.
Amir Halevi, tourism ministry director-general, said: ?This is the second consecutive record-breaking year in incoming tourism to Israel and this year we have crossed the threshold of 4 million tourists in a year. This is the result of hard and strenuous work in recent years, as part of a revolution in the way that Israel is marketed around the world as a tourist destination.
We are optimistic about 2019 that begins with the opening of the new international airport at Timna, that will enable us to continue bringing new flights to Eilat. What was considered a fantasy a few years ago is today a reality: Israel is a preferred tourist destination among tourism destinations around the world."
