70,000 tourists came to Eilat on direct flights last winter. The Tourism Ministry expects 280,000 this winter.

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism sees Eilat overseas tourism quadrupling this winter. In the 2015-2016 winter season, 50,000 overseas tourists came on direct flights to the Red Sea resort, while last winter (2016-2017) this figure rose to 70,000. The Ministry of Tourism now sees this figure quadrupling to 280,000 overseas tourists flying to Eilat on direct flights this winter (2017-2018) rising to 400,000 within five years.

This expected jump is the result of a Ministry of Tourism campaign to pay low-cost airlines a small fee for each overseas tourist they bring directly to Eilat. Low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air are among the airlines that have taken the Ministry of Tourism up on its offer.

(Courtesy: Michael Ordman)