Israeli Summer Travel Trends Show Shift to Family Trips and New Destinations
Despite ongoing security concerns, Israelis continue to book long-term summer vacations, with the average booking window extending from 40 days last year to 66 days this year, a 65% increase, according to data from lastminute.com. The data, based on thousands of searches up to July 10 for July-August trips, reveals a significant rise in family bookings, which now constitute 52% of all reservations, up from 37% last year. Solo travelers and couples have decreased their share to 21% and 27%, respectively.
The most popular summer destination for Israelis is Larnaca, Cyprus, despite a 19% price increase to an average of $355 per ticket. Surprisingly, Batumi, Georgia, climbed from sixth place last year to second, possibly due to a price drop and the addition of new flights by Georgian airline Oneclick Airways. Other favored destinations include Rhodes, Athens, Budapest, Heraklion, Tbilisi, and Prague. Paphos fell from fourth to ninth place after a 26% price hike. Flight prices are influenced by airline competition and seat availability, while the strengthening Israeli shekel against the dollar helps mitigate some cost increases.
In other news, the food industry sees growth with Green Lantern fund acquiring 49% of Biscotti, valued at about 500 million shekels, and the opening of a new 11,000-square-meter factory and logistics center in Ariel, with a 90 million shekel investment. In finance, FAI launched Owlytic, an AI-based financial-tech hub in Tel Aviv to streamline financial processes for startups.
Magnum ice cream returns to retail after five years with a summer pop-up at Big Fashion Glilot, featuring interactive fashion experiences and merchandise. In corporate appointments, Yogev Gabry, former CEO of MAN Truck & Bus Israel, was named CEO of Ashdod Refinery, replacing Ronen Yehezkel, and Uri Bar-Tal was appointed business development manager at Barkat, a real estate finance company.
The article also notes that the 2023 World Cup final, where Spain won and Argentina lost, achieved a 40.6% viewership rating in Israel, the highest since 1998.
