“Israel’s attractions to Americans of all faiths as the Land of the Bible and a state of modern progress are so great that travel to Israel will more than double, to reach 100,000 visitors by 1960, according to top-notch American experts who just completed a study for the development of tourism to Israel under the U.S. International Cooperation Administration,” it was revealed today at a press conference here.
The most comprehensive single survey ever made of the tourist industry of any country, the 438-page “Study of Tourism in Israel” is a blueprint for making Israel one of the most attractive tourist countries in the world. The team of experts in travel development, hotels and allied fields, not only analyzed on the spot, in Israel, every facet connected with increasing tourist traffic to Israel, but in the several months of its study conducted two comprehensive attitude surveys in the United States and interviewed travel leaders in Europe and other Middle Eastern countries as well.
The United States is the largest present and potential source of tourists to Israel, the report states; and, since the trend of the worlds rising traffic is to the Middle East, Israel is in a strategic position to capture a large share of these visitors as well. The experts based their optimistic forecast of increased traffic to Israel also on the poll they took of recent visitors. According to the poll, the leading Jewish motive for visiting Israel was interest in the country’s progress (82 percent), while the top Christian motives were religious interest (52 percent) and interest in culture and antiquities. (46 percent). The survey further revealed that, whereas Jewish visitors at present out number Christians two to one, the proportion is rapidly changing and Christian visitors will gradually outnumber the Jewish tourists to Israel.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
