182,000 tourists visited Israel in January 2008, 57% more than in the corresponding month in 2007, and 7% more than in January 2000, the previous all-time high, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today.

121,000 tourists arrived by air, 27% higher than in the corresponding period in 2007, of which 2,400 took direct flights to Eilat. There were 31,000 day trippers mainly from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland, who entered Israel through the border crossing at Taba and from Jordan, a fivefold increase over January 2007.

The Ministry of Tourism has set a target of 2.8 million tourists for 2008, against 2.1 million in 2007. This target has not been changed for the time being, although sources in the tourism sector fear that the economic crisis in the US could reduce the number of tourists from this country over the year.

The Tourism Ministry intends to tackle this by stepping up its marketing campaigns in countries across Europe.