Israel is renewing its efforts to attract tourists from China, after the Tourism Ministry recently signed a cooperation agreement with Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Facebook. Through this collaboration, a campaign reached 150 million views within a week and became one of the top 10 trending topics on the platform.
Read more:
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry had focused significant efforts on the Chinese market, investing tens of millions of shekels annually. In 2019, it reached a peak with over 150,000 Chinese tourist arrivals in Israel. However, due to the outbreak of the pandemic, tourist traffic from China came to a complete halt.
China waved its zero-COVID policy in March and opened its borders to international tourists, and simultaneously allowed its citizens to go on organized trips to 60 countries. Israel is not yet included on that list, but Chinese tourists were allowed to travel to Israel independently.
"The Asian market holds great potential, and we are working to implement it," says Tourism Minister Haim Katz. "Israel offers what the Chinese tourist is looking for – a meaningful trip, history and culture. Through focused and organized work, we will increase tourism from China."
Recently, Katz also concluded an agreement with his counterpart in Bahrain to promote vacation packages for the Asian market, which include combined trips to Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
According to a survey conducted by the ministry, Chinese tourists are considered the highest spenders per day during their vacation in Israel – $236 per tourist per day, compared to the average of $180. In fact, the tourism potential from China is enormous and has significantly strengthened over the past decade. In 2019, approximately 155 million Chinese tourists traveled the world, more than triple the number of Chinese tourists in the world in 2010.
Meanwhile, as part of the marketing collaboration between the ministry and Weibo aimed at raising awareness of Israel as a leading travel destination among the Chinese audience, the Tourism Ministry's office in China hosted a delegation of influencers from Weibo who were exposed to Israel's tourism sites, attractions and unique culture.