Tourists to Return Starting May 23 as Israel Announces Plan

“Israel is the first vaccinated country, and the citizens of Israel are the first to enjoy this result,” Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein said.

By: WIN Staff

Minister of Tourism Orit Farkash-Hacohen and Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein have agreed on a framework for the opening of Israel to vaccinated groups of foreign tourists.

Starting on May 23, 2021, Israel will open its gates to foreign nationals after more than a year. A limited number of groups will be allowed at the start with the number being increased based on the health situation and progress of the program.

“Israel is the first vaccinated country, and the citizens of Israel are the first to enjoy this result,” Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein said.

In the first stage, groups will be allowed in under guidelines to be published by the ministries. They will include a pre-flight PCR test and post-flight serology test to prove vaccination at Ben-Gurion Airport.

The second stage will allow individual tourists to enter.

Meanwhile, discussions will continue with various countries to reach agreements for vaccine-certificate validation, so as to cancel the need for the serological test.

Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen said, “I am pleased to give this important first step to the tourism industry. It is time that Israel’s unique advantage as a safe and healthy country start to assist it in recovering from the economic crisis, and not only serve other countries’ economies.”

The Tourism Ministry prepared plans in January, hoping (it turns out correctly) for tourism’s return in the spring.

The tourism industry, which enjoyed revenues of about 23 billion shekels in 2019, was among the hardest hit by the corona crisis. Nearly 200,000 Israeli families employed in tourism lost their livelihoods, TPS reports.

“Opening tourism is important for one of the fields most hurt during the Covid year,” Edelstein noted. “We will continue to look at easing regulations in accordance to the health situation.”

Israeli tourism was breaking records before coronavirus hit. Over 4.5 million tourists entered Israel in 2019, an 11% increase over the year prior. It was on course to break that record in 2020 but the impact of coronavirus was already felt by the early part of the year. By March, El Al airlines had laid off 80% of its workforce.

(World Israel News)

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