Israel’s inbound tourism industry believes the coming days could be critical for the sector’s future. After several countries began downgrading their travel warnings to Israel, the Incoming Tour Operators Association says this represents a rare opportunity to bring tourists back—but warns that without rapid government action, the moment could slip away.
2+According to the association, Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand have all published certain easing measures in their Israel travel warnings in recent days—a move the industry sees as the first sign of a possible shift in how the world perceives risk in Israel. Still, industry officials stress that easing travel warnings alone won’t bring tourists back as long as many airlines still aren’t operating regular routes to Israel and air connectivity remains limited.
Yossi Fattal, CEO of the Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association, says that precisely when the first signs of calm begin to appear, the country needs to ramp up activity rather than wait for the crisis to fully end. According to him, in the tourism world, those who start acting only after the situation completely stabilizes find themselves behind while other countries are already attract the tourists.
2+The association is calling on the government to formulate a focused national plan to restore tourism to Israel. Among other things, the industry is demanding that the Foreign Ministry work with foreign governments, regulators and insurance companies to bring about further updates to travel warnings, and that the Transportation Ministry accelerate the return of foreign airlines through incentives and regulatory tools. The industry notes that since the crisis began, inbound tourism has been significantly damaged, with the number of visitors from abroad plummeting and revenues for thousands of businesses in the hotel, restaurant, tour guide and transportation sectors hurt accordingly. Now, they argue, any delay in restoring flights and removing barriers could push recovery back by additional months.
Because of this, the association proposes establishing a dedicated body to coordinate government efforts in the field—a kind of “tourism recovery administration” that would consolidate the activities of the Tourism, Transportation and Foreign ministries and operate according to defined targets and timelines.
2+According to industry officials, bringing tourists back to Israel isn’t just an economic issue. Beyond the revenue to the economy, they believe that visitors from abroad who experience reality in Israel firsthand become significant ambassadors for the country around the world. Therefore, they argue, if a first window of opportunity to rehabilitate tourism is indeed opening now, swift action is needed to prevent it from closing before the industry has a chance to recover.