The number of tourists arriving in Israel reached an all-time high in 2018, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.
Some 4.4 million tourists entered Israel in 2018, marking a 14% increase compared to the previous year, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.
According to the CBS, the number of U.S. visitors spiked by 15% compared to 2017 and exceeded that from any other country. The number of tourists who left on the same date as their arrival rose by 17%, reaching 269,000 in 2018.
Some 346,000 tourists arrived from France, marking a 12% increase from 2017. The largest increase was in tourism from Poland, which spiked by 56% to 152,000. The number of tourists from Italy also saw a major increase, exceeding its 2017 level by 40%. The most modest increase was among U.K. tourists, a rise of 10% compared to the previous year.
Outbound tourism increased by 12% from 2017 reaching an all-time high of 8.5 million departures. About a third of the outbound tourism was during the months of July and August.
In total, some 4.1 million Israelis traveled abroad in 2018, including 1.9 million who traveled more than once. The busiest day of the year was Sept. 6, 2018, when 53,000 Israelis passed through Ben-Gurion International Airport, more than double the daily average of 21,000.
