Israelis Ambitious About Tourism

After a record-breaking year in 2017, with 3.6 million tourists, and another record-breaking start to 2018, with 2 million tourists over 6 months, Israelis have ambitious plans to encourage even more people to visit the country.

As part of the 70^th Anniversary celebrations, in May this year the Israeli Government approved the funding for a cable car project in Jerusalem that will make it easier to get to the Old City and the Western Wall.

The planned cable car terminal

A second project is close to becoming operational – the high-speed rail link between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Its completion has been delayed and may yet miss the scheduled opening date in September. But once it is fully operational it will cut the journey time down to less than 30 minutes.

Then there is the new Eilat Ramon Airport being built 18 kilometres to the north of the popular resort city which lies at the southern tip of Israel. Eilat Ramon is intended to replace the Eilat J. Hozman and Ovda airports, the second of which is situated a full 60 kilometres north of the city.

There are also several new tourist attractions, one of which is the Crusader Wall Promenade at the Caesarea Harbour National Park in the north of the country. Its development has involved the preservation and renovation of Roman-era walls and towers as well as the Crusader market.

Caesarea Maritima

These are just four of seven major projects that are under way to boost the tourist trade in Israel and open up the rich history of this fascinating land to more people.