Record number of visitors to Israel

The Central Bureau of Statistics released figures on January 9, 2014, revealing tourism trends in 2013. 3.54 million visitors arrived in Israel in 2013, half a percent more than the previous year. In December alone, about 272,000 tourists came to visit, a 14 percent increase over December 2012, setting a record for most arrivals in Israel in one month.

Nearly 18 percent of tourists came from the United States, with some 623,000 Americans visiting. Russia sent 603,000 tourists, and France 315,000. More than half the tourists, or 53 percent, were Christian; only 28 percent were Jewish.

Overall, tourism contributed about $11.4 billion to the Israeli economy in 2013, according to the Ministry of Tourism.