Arab Spring and Israeli Tourism

[Ed Wetschler]

Israeli tourism is off about 12% from what they'd expect it to be, and this is, to a great extent, because travelers feel that right now they can't comfortably combine visits to Israel and Egypt. May we assume that this will result in some good hotel deals?

[margalit sturm francus]

Probably not!
I don't see Israeli tourism hugely affected by the reluctance of 'combined tours' participants to come. Israeli  tourism has been and still is mostly based on people coming to visit the actual country ,especially during the summer months.  

[Buzzy Gordon]

I have to agree with Margalit; the tourists who come on these multi-country group trips book with tour operators who have already negotiated rock-bottom prices with hotels. There may be a few deals offered by these organizers, but individuals will find it tough to get air or hotel deals from now until mid-October.

[Julie Cooper]

Ed - I'd like to know where you read about tourism being off by 12%, as I haven't heard that statistic. We are actually not finding that reluctance to visit Egypt is having a significant affect on Israeli tourism. In fact, we are experiencing our best numbers ever in terms of one-day port stops by cruises in Haifa and Ashdod, and while much of this has to do with increased interest in Israel, some people also chalk it up to the fact that cruises are cancelling port stops in Egypt and instead going to Israel.