The Ministry of Tourism (Hebrew: מִשְׂרַד הַתַּיָּרוּת, romanized: Misrad HaTayarut) is the Israeli government office responsible for tourism. The office was created in 1964, with Akiva Govrin being the first minister, but was appended to the Trade and Industry Ministry between 1977 and 1981. The logo for the Ministry depicts the Biblical Spies carrying fruit back from touring the Holy Land.
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In this Dossier
Israeli Tourism Ministry in the context of Tourism in the State of Palestine
Tourism in Palestine is tourism in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. In 2010, 4.6 million people visited Palestine, compared to 2.6 million in 2009. Of that number, 2.2 million were foreign tourists while 2.7 million were domestic. In the last quarter of 2012 over 150,000 guests stayed in West Bank hotels; 40% were European and 9% were from the United States and Canada. Major travel guides write that "the West Bank is not the easiest place in which to travel but the effort is richly rewarded."
The Palestinian tourism ministry and Israeli tourism ministry have attempted to work together on tourism in the Palestinian territories in a Joint Committee. The cooperation to share access to foreign tourists has not proven successful in Palestine for many reasons. Israel controls the movement of tourists into the West Bank. Palestinian tour guides or transportation companies have not been able to enter Israel since 2000, and in 2009, Israel's Ministry of Tourism deleted the West Bank and any Palestinian area from its materials. Former Palestinian Authority Tourism Minister Kholoud Diibes has commented "that Israel collects 90% of [religious] pilgrim-related revenue". Foreign tourism has been restricted to East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the August 2013 indefinite closing of the Rafah crossing located between Egypt and the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip. There is essentially no tourist flow to Gaza since 2005 because of the ongoing Israeli military land, sea, and air blockade.