Member Reports > NACE Member Spotlight > Israel Hotel Association Israel Hotel Association Predicts Growth For Tourism Hotel Association: Tourism industry to hire 13,000 in 2005; 1.8 million foreign tourists are expected, and hotel overnights are projected to rise 7%. Israel's tourism industry will hire 13,000 new workers in 2005, including over 2,000 by hotels, the Israel Hotel Association predicted today, to mark the opening of the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) 2005 in Tel Aviv tomorrow. The prediction is based on a continuation of the growth in incoming tourism in the past 18 months. The Hotel Association predicts 1.8 million tourists in 2005, up form 1.5 million in 2004. Israel Hotel Association president Avi Ella said, "The number of incoming tourists could reach two million this year, if the government would invest in marketing and infrastructure, and provided that the relative security calm persists. Achieving this target will boost our job creation, revenue, and growth forecasts by 10%." The Hotel Association predicts that employment in the tourism industry will grow by 22% to 73,000. The number of hotel employees will grow by 9% to 25,000. Israel's tourism industry employed 125,000 people in 2000, including 35,000 in hotels. The Hotel Association predicts a 7% increase in hotel overnights from 17 million in 2004 to 18.2 million in 2005. Tourist overnights are predicted to rise 23% to 5.9 million, from 4.8 million last year. There were 9.7 million tourist overnights in 2000. Hotel overnights by Israelis are expected to remain almost unchanged, rising from 12.2 million in 2004 to 12.3 million in 2005. There were 9.9 million hotel overnights by Israelis in 2000. Room occupancy rate is expected to reach 52% in 2005, 8% higher than in 2004. Ella said the increase necessitates government support in renovating essential tourism infrastructures. The growth of the tourist industry will boost its contribution to Israel's GDP by 22%, tor $3.2 billion. The tourist industry contributed $5.1 billion to Israel's GDP in 2000. Income from foreign tourists is expected to rise 22% to $2.3 billion. Hotel proceeds are expected to rise 12% to $5.5 billion in 2005. Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 7, 2005 www.globes.co.il by David Hayoun Copyright 2003 International Hotel & Restaurant Association. All rights reserved. International Hotel & Restaurant Association 51 rue Jean Jacques Rousseau 75001 Paris France Tel: 33 (0) 1 44 88 92 20 Fax: 33 (0) 1 44 88 92 30 www.ih-ra.com