Against expectations, Eilat tourist figures are up
▶ IN SPITE of six months of war in Israel, which has seen dozens of airlines cancel flights and governments such as the UK imposing travel warnings, the country’s south coast hotels are reporting record bookings.
Itamar Elitzur, CEO of the Eilat Hotels Association, says this is because Israelis once travelling to Sinai and Turkey are now staying closer to home. “Turkey and Sinai are usually our biggest rivals and they have now closed for security reasons so we predict this will be our best year ever with Israelis not going to the two most popular places,” he said.
“Our March occupation rates were 15 to 20 per cent higher than last year.” As Pesach approaches, the resort is already “over booked”, says Elitzur. “A lot of hotels simply aren’t selling that week any more,” he told the JC.
Summer and the second half of the year looks bright too, with travellers booking ahead. “July and August are already selling,” he added. It is a promising state for the quiet coastal town where, at the war’s peak, 70,000 of Israel’s displaced had fled to safety in hotels and residential housing across the area. Of these, there are now 36,000 left, as many find their way to their homes in the south, with only 12,000 left in hotels.
“When the hotels are full the whole economy of Eilat is vibrant, encouraging new businesses to open,” said Elitzur.
It is a slither of light for the industry that has been hit dramatically by the Gaza war. Just as the country was recovering from the impact of the pandemic, the war has left thousands without work and prospects for recovery, bleak. Cities such as Nazareth, which depend on Christian pilgrims, are all but ghost towns. Jerusalem on Easter Sunday saw just a fraction of the usual crowds for the holy festivities. The inbound tourism industry, directly and indirectly, constitutes between 10 and 15 per cent of jobs in Israel.
Tour guide Yaniv Levi said the crisis was worse than in the pandemic. He has lost all his work during the war and pivoted to a job as a delivery driver. “Covid hit the whole world so we knew recovery efforts would be a global thing, but now it is just affecting us and it feels like it will take a long time to recover,” he said.
Michael Ben-Baruch, director for the UK and Ireland in the Israel Government Tourist Office, admits it will be a tough journey ahead but tourism will be key for the country’s economic recovery. “According to estimates, thousands have lost their jobs and as time passes, thousands more will sadly join them,” he said.
As a destination, he said, the perception of the country as a “war zone” will be hard to transform. But airlines are restarting flights and slowly, numbers are rising, though they remain far lower than jbefore the war. “About 10,000 tourists arrived from the UK in the first two months of 2024, which accounts for 25 per cent of the numbers of the record year, 2019. There is still a lot to strive for, but given the circumstances, it’s encouraging,” he said.