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 percent increase compared to the previous year, confirmed the Central Bureau of Statistics.
According to the CBS, the number of U.S. visitors spiked by 15 percent 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 percent, reaching 269,000 in 2018.
Some 346,000 tourists arrived from France, marking a 12 percent increase from 2017. The largest increase was in tourism from Poland, which spiked by 56 percent to 152,000.
The number of tourists from Italy also saw a major increase, exceeding its 2017 level by 40 percent. The most modest increase was among tourists from the United Kingdom—a rise of 10 percent compared to the previous year.
Outbound tourism increased by 12 percent 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.