In November, 369,800 visitor arrivals to Israel were recorded, of which 330,700 tourist arrivals and 39,100-day visitor arrivals (of which 29,700 cruise passenger arrivals).

87.6% of tourist arrivals in November were by air. The highest number of tourist arrivals in November was from the United States – 85,100 arrivals (25.7% of all tourist arrivals to Israel). 76.0% of day visitor arrivals in November were cruise passengers. The highest number of visitor arrivals of the day was from the United States – 11,900 arrivals (9,900 of which were cruise passengers).

Should these continue at the same rate in December, the ministry said it expects to record between 2.4 to 2.6 million arrivals by the end of the year. These figures are a far cry from 2019’s figures when Israel welcomed some 4.5 million tourists, its strongest year on record, but the numbers show promising signs of recovery for inbound tourism, the ministry said.

Israel only reopened its skies in March, lifting most COVID-related travel restrictions. International arrivals who are foreign nationals are required to carry health insurance policies with coverage for COVID-19 treatment as of this summer. Hotel industry figures also point to signs of recovery.