74% of Europeans reluctant to visit Israel as tourism drops to historic low

A recent Israeli study revealed a significant shift in European attitudes toward visiting Israel, with 74% of Europeans expressing reluctance to travel to the country. The research, presented at the Future of Tourism in Israel conference, highlights a growing challenge for the nation’s tourism industry.

According to findings published by the Walla news site, French citizens showed the strongest aversion, with 74% indicating no interest in visiting Israel. Both German and British respondents followed with 50% expressing similar sentiments.

More than half of the surveyed populations from these three nations stated they had no plans to visit Israel within the next five years.

The study found that 45% of French respondents who had previously visited Israel were unwilling to return, while 42% of British and German participants expressed complete disinterest in traveling to the country.

“Israel is facing both an image crisis and an existential crisis,” said Yossi Fattal, CEO of the Israel Tourism Organizers Bureau, responding to the findings.

The research, conducted by Shahar Shilo, Ronit Nir, and Avi Kornes, revealed that 38% of European respondents associate Israel primarily with war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At least 85% reported not having visited Israel in the past decade.

The study also examined attitudes among American Jewish and Evangelical communities. Only 50% of these groups viewed Israel as representing holy lands and Jerusalem. More than 70% of Evangelicals and over 52% of Jewish Americans surveyed had not visited Israel in the past 10 years.

The researchers noted that security concerns were a significant factor in these findings, adding that the results were not unexpected.