Tourists Rank Tel Aviv, Jerusalem as Top Travel Destinations
Survey ranks Israeli cities in top three Middle Eastern/African cities
Tel Aviv beachPic: WikipediaAccording to a recent poll by the New York-based magazine, Travel + Leisure, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are among the top three cities to visit in the Middle East and Africa.
Cape Town, South Africa ranked number one in the Middle East/Africa category. Readers chose their favourite cities based on a number of criteria, such as culture, shopping, travel costs, sight-seeing, food and restaurants. Cairo and Dubai also ranked very high in the category, as the fourth and fifth best tourist destinations in the region, respectively.
Travel + Leisure has a very large following with a readership of over one-million travellers who often base their vacation plans on advice from the magazine. Travel + Leisure conducts this survey annually, and for the past 16 years has also published a survey rating hotels, airlines, cities, spas, and islands, among other tourist information.
“Over the last two years the Ministry has reinforced its marketing activities throughout the world, focusing on creating a new image for Israel – the Holy Land with Jerusalem at its center, with a separate focus on the cities of Eilat and Tel Aviv,” said Minister of Tourism, Stas Miseznikov. He noted that this new marketing initiative has caused a significant increase to tourism in Israel.
Last year, Jerusalem ranked number one in the category, with Tel Aviv again at number three. Israel’s tourism industry has experienced a boom in recent times, as over 1.6 million tourists visited the country in the first half of 2011. In June alone, 262,000 people visited the country, setting a new record.
According to Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, 76 per cent of the 1.6 million tourists stopped in Jerusalem to visit sites such as the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Via Dolorosa, Yad Vashem and the Mount of Olives.
Tel Aviv, known for its night life and proximity to the beach, attracted approximately 54 per cent of the visitors. It was labelled a “World Heritage Site” in 2003 by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for its high level of innovation in city planning. It was said that Tel Aviv reflects the “Modern Movement,” so popular at the turn of the last century.
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