Religious News - Israel tourism sets records

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Israel tourism sets records

Tourism in Israel is flourishing despite ongoing security concerns, setting an all-time record in May, the country's statistical service said.

Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said 297,000 tourists entered the country last month, with U.S. and Russian visitors leading the way, Ynetnews.com reported Wednesday. It said the figures represent a 60 percent increase in tourism activity from the year-earlier mark and a 5 percent increase over May 2000 when Pope John Paul II visited Israel.

The statistics showed 1.2 million tourists visited Israel between January and May, a 40 percent jump from the same five-month period in 2007.

"Many of the tourists arriving in Israel are businessman and devotees," Eli Gonen, president of the Israel Hotel Association told Ynetnews.com. "But the relative calmness at this time is opportune for investing money in targeted marketing that would bring leisure tourism to Israel to enjoy everything the country has to offer."

Ynetnews.com quoted an unnamed tourism industry source saying the numbers could have been even higher had an "open sky" policy for airlines been in effect.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.

This news arrived on: 06/19/2008

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