Foreign tourist arrivals in Israel nearly double in H1

JERUSALEM, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign tourists visiting Israel from January to June nearly doubled that of the same period last year, according to statistics released by Israel's Tourism Ministry on Wednesday.

From January to June, 1.97 million foreign tourists arrived in Israel, compared to 1.01 million in the first half of 2022, the ministry said in a statement.

Tourism revenues in Israel reached 11.7 billion shekels (3.16 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2023, more than double the 5.4 billion shekels recorded in January-June last year, it added.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Israel increased to 11,900 in January-June, compared to 1,700 in the same period of last year.