Under the leadership of Tourism Minister, Haim Katz, the government will approve on Sunday a decision-making proposal to support tourism organizers whose incomes have dropped dramatically due to the war. The aid will be provided for the entire year 2024.

Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz: “Aside from the national task, we have undertaken to find accommodation solutions for evacuees, we continue to prepare for the day after, to enable a rapid recovery of the tourism industry and the strengthening of the Israeli economy. The dedicated outline for the organizers of inbound tourism, whose activity is a significant component of the volume of tourists arriving in Israel, will allow the preservation of the marketing infrastructure required for an optimal return to normalcy”.

The Ministry of Tourism formulated a procedure for determining the state’s participation in the wages of the essential employees of the tourism organizers for 2024. According to it, in the first phase, a tourism organizer will be entitled to assistance in retaining employees in cases where his income in the first half of 2024 has decreased by at least 80% compared to the corresponding period last year, and in the second and third phases, a 70% decrease in income compared to his total income in 2023/2022 respectively.

These are employees who were employed by the tourism organizer before October 7. The amount of participation is 93.75% of the employee’s salary or the average salary in the economy, whichever is lower.

Bureau of Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association: “Minister Haim Katz’s initiative is saving the industry of incoming tourism organizers to Israel from collapse. Inbound tourism is an important pillar of Israel’s economy, the decision will make it possible to preserve a critical human infrastructure for renewing the movement of tourists to Israel after the crisis”.