Israel’s hotel sector shows record performance

Hotels in Israel saw another record performance in 2018 as the country experienced a lull in geo-political turmoil and a rise in incoming tourist numbers, according to a new report by global hotel consultancy HVS. Israel has seen experiencing growth in its tourism sector for a few years now. In 2017 the country welcomed 3m tourists for the first time in its history a figure that rose to 4.1m in 2018. On the back of this growth hotels across Israel saw RevPAR [revenue per available room] rise 6% last year. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv saw the biggest uplifts, with bed nights up 10% and 7.2% respectively. “The expanding number of air routes and the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Israel contributed to the sharp increase in incoming tourists last year,” said Lionel Schauder, senior associate with HVS. “Total demand slightly outpaced rooms supply growth between 2014-2018, and over the past three years that gap has increased with rooms supply growing by 2.9% and demand increasing by 6.7%, highlighting the strong potential of the country and the need for additional accommodation,” he added. The HVS report 10,000 additional hotel rooms are set to come on stream over the next decade across the country, with some 13 new properties recently opened and another 50 in the pipeline. “Over the next decade Israel will be seeing significant development from international operators such as Six Senses, Nobu and Kempinski, as well as the development of more affordable accommodation with Selina and Brown Hotels, which is bringing the first pod-style hotel to Tel Aviv,” said report co-author Russell Kett, chairman, HVS London. “While the Eurovision Song Contest earlier this year failed to lift RevPAR significantly, the first half of 2019 also looks as if new records will be broken, although on-going success does depend on continued peace in the region, and hoteliers improving their service levels to attract returning guests,” added Kett. Download Trends and opportunities: Israel Hotel Market Overview 2019 by Lionel Schauder and Russell Kett at https://www.hvs.com/article/8567/israel-hotel-market-overview-2019/?campaign=email