TEL AVIV WHO’S COMING
Israel welcomed about 1.3 million tourists in 2025 (+37%) — the US (447k), France (176k) and the UK (104k) over half between them — and after the five-month 2026 pause the Americans came back first: 33% of July’s arrivals.
About 1.3 million tourists entered Israel in 2025, up 37% on 2024 but still under a third of the 4.55-million wall of 2019. The source map is unusually concentrated: the United States (447,000), France (176,000) and the United Kingdom (104,000) delivered 55% of all arrivals between them. The visitor profile explains the resilience — 51% Jewish travellers, 9% pilgrimage, 12% business, with visiting friends and relatives the dominant purpose; average stay 9.3 nights, average spend $1,622 excluding flights, satisfaction at 88% with 83% saying they would recommend the trip. Incoming tourism revenue reached about ₪7.8 billion.
The Iran round stopped the recovery mid-flight: January–May 2026 brought 356,400 tourists against 565,300 in the same months of 2025, and May printed just 64,400 — down 85% on May 2019’s 440,000. The return, once the sky reopened, was led from North America: June brought 34,700 US and Canadian visitors (+73% year on year), and in July the 36,600 American arrivals were 33% of the month’s total; January–July reached about 611,000. Underneath sits the domestic backstop that kept Tel Aviv’s promenade busy — 23.8 million Israeli bednights in 2024, +37% on 2019 — and a ₪43 million government support package for the trade in 2026.
THE TIO READ
Tel Aviv’s demand pyramid is inverted: diaspora and domestic trips are the base, the classic leisure tourist the tip — which is why the cafés stayed full while incoming tourism ran at a third of the 2019 wall. The monthly US share is the market’s recovery gauge; watch it, not the headlines.
Subscribe to the digest and receive key market signals every two weeks.