The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone. Even though a significant amount of attention has been paid to The United States, Asia, and Europe, impacts are being felt all over the world. This includes Israel. According to some sources, Israel was predicted to have a record five million incoming tourists during 2020 alone. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has completely destroyed these expectations. Now, there are concerns that the Israeli tourism industry might not survive at all.
It is important to keep in mind that this is an industry that has historically planned to accommodate wars. As a result, they are not new to adversity. On the other hand, the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting travel bans have totally put this industry on its heels. Without a doubt, this is a sector that is falling apart.
While the cause of these issues is the pandemic, which is obvious, there are a lot of analysts who are looking beyond the pandemic, trying to figure out how tourism dried up so quickly. The virus first reared its ugly head in China. There were whispers in the fall that there was a mysterious virus that was leading to a respiratory illness. Israel was quick to respond. They quickly grounded all incoming flights from Asia. Soon after, the virus appeared in Europe, causing Israel to close its borders to these countries as well. This was enough to cause a significant blow to the tourism sector, as many travelers come from these countries.
Another blow came when the United States had trouble getting its act together. The world’s only major superpower, this is a country that has struggled to contain the virus. The curve was never flattened and has only gotten worse. As a result, numerous other countries have banned travelers from the United States. Because a significant number of tourists come from the United States to Israel, this was just another head to a sector that it already experienced a lot. This sequential grounding of flights has caused Ben Gurion Airport to look like every day is Yom Kippur. This is the true cause of tourism drying up is Israel.
t is important to note that Israel is not alone. Numerous other countries are also seeing has to their tourism Industries. Much of this has to do with the travel bans discussed above. France has announced that its tourism is dropping by about a third. Similarly, Singapore is also anticipating its tourism to drop by about a third. Of course, travelers to Hong Kong are already starting to dry up due to the ongoing protest against the new National Security Law; however, this island is also feeling the sting.
Tourism all over the world is suffering. Israel is not alone. The only question is how the government is going to respond to prop up an industry that brings in a significant amount of money for this Middle Eastern country. This is going to have a major impact on the quality of life of its people.