The holiday tourists are back! After a long period in which tourism to Israel declined dramatically due to the war, and mainly included solidarity delegations and a Jewish audience, the Ministry of Tourism marks 2025 as the year of the return of tourists to Israel.

This week, the Ministry is hosting a group from Russia that includes 10 large tourism wholesaler and 3 representatives from airlines who are interested in opening a line from Moscow to Eilat this winter. The delegation was also joined by 11 Russian journalists.

The delegation is visiting the classic route in Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and attractions in and around Eilat (Dolphin Reef, the Underwater Observatory, Timna, and more). In addition, the members of the delegation are meeting with hoteliers and agents to formulate vacation packages suitable for different levels of accommodation. They will also visit Ramon Airport for the purpose of opening a direct line from Moscow. The planned accommodation and vacation packages are the result of the work of the ministry and partners in Israel, in recent times, with the tourism industry in Russia to overcome technical challenges, resulting from the geopolitical situation.

The visit is taking place in cooperation with the Eilat Municipality and the Municipal Tourism Corporation, the Eilat and Dead Sea Hotel Association and the Airports Authority. About a week ago, the ministry hosted the CEO of the Russian airline “Red Wings”, Vladimir Kaminin, who came to Israel to examine the possibility of opening a route from Moscow to Eilat.

During the war, in 2024, about 7,000 tourists from Russia entered Israel. It is now in fourth place in the volume of tourism entering Israel from it, after the USA, France and England. In 2019 – the peak year for tourist arrivals to Israel – 23,000 tourists entered from Russia, which placed it in second place on the list of countries of origin of tourism to Israel.

Tourism is both an informational tool and an economic catalyst that routinely brings nearly 30 billion ILS into the economy every year. The ministry operates an innovative strategy for restoration, focusing on personalized door-to-door marketing for sympathetic audiences with a high motivation to visit Israel/the Holy Land and for audiences that are less affected by complex geopolitical situations.