The Central Bureau of Statistics noted a rise of 60% in tourism, with nearly 464,000 visitors arriving in Israel over the course of October 2017, compared with 290,000 last year. The days just prior to the holiday of Sukkot saw the most visitors, with an average of 17.4 thousand per day, compared to the monthly average of 11.8 thousand per day.
The highest numbers of visitors came from the US, Russia, France, and Germany. However, the countries which saw the greatest rise in the number of citizens visiting Israel were China, Poland, and Romania. Poland saw a rise of 61% since last year in the number of visitors to Israel, while Romania saw a rise of 57% and China 55%.
During the months of August-October 2017, 3.3 million tourists arrived in Israel, for an average of 274,000 per month. This represents a rise of .2 million from the previous three months (May-July 2017), when an average of 254,000 tourists arrived each month.
In August, 2.5 million travelers passing through Ben Gurion Airport surpassed the Israel Airports Authority's (IAA) expectations, setting a new record after July saw 2.3 million.
In the past two years, the number of tourists arriving in Israel has steadily climbed. In the first six months of 2017, Israel saw 1.74 million tourist entries - 26% more than the same period in 2016 (which saw 1.38 million tourist entries) and 24% more than the same period in 2015. (Read article)
