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Foreign-tourist hotel nights in Jerusalem rose 46% in the third quarter from a year earlier but remained about 67% below 2019, leaving the city’s tourism businesses well short of their pre-pandemic level despite the rebound.
Hotels recorded 294,500 foreign-tourist nights in July through September 2026, compared with 201,000 in the same period of 2025 and 879,400 in 2019, according to hotel-association data in a report published Sunday. The figures count overnight stays, rather than individual visitors.
Domestic visitors support the recovery
Total hotel nights in the city reached 878,300 in the quarter, including 583,800 nights by Israeli guests. The total was up about 16% from a year earlier but remained about 30% below 2019, the report said.
Neta Briskin-Peleg, head of tourism at the Jerusalem Development Authority, said foreign visitors historically accounted for about 80% of the city’s tourism activity. She said their absence had hurt businesses dependent on incoming tourism and led many to adapt to the domestic market.
Flights and insurance remain barriers
Briskin-Peleg identified too few flights, high airfares and uncertainty around travel as the main obstacles to recovery. Travel warnings make it difficult in some countries to obtain insurance for trips to Israel, while security-related flight cancellations complicate planning for visitors and group organizers, she said.
Her assessment puts access to Israel at the center of the city’s tourism challenge. Marketing Jerusalem and adding rooms depend on travelers being able to arrange flights and insurance with confidence.
More rooms planned through 2030
Jerusalem has about 193 hotels, guesthouses and hostels with roughly 14,000 rooms, Briskin-Peleg said. She expects about 3,000 additional hotel rooms by the end of 2030.
The development authority has used domestic-tourism campaigns, cultural events and support for group travel to encourage demand, the report said. Its past summer promotion included hotel discounts and a digital wallet benefit, while its wider work includes encouraging conferences and marketing the city to Israeli vacationers.
The quarter’s results show how much of the recovery still depends on overseas guests: foreign-tourist nights have risen sharply from a low base while remaining far below the level that supported the city before the pandemic.
JBizNews Desk | Jerusalem
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