As one of the countries along the “Belt and Road”, Israel has stood out from so many long-haul destinations and been favored by Chinese tourists for its ancient civilization and arts, modern urban landscapes, a holy land of religion, wines and foods. According to the data released by the Central Statistics Bureau of Israel in this January, the number of Chinese tourists to Israel in 2017 broke the threshold of 100,000 person-times for the first time to reach 114,000 person-times, up 45% from 2016. It’s expected by the Ministry of Tourism of Israel that in two or three years, the annual number of Chinese tourists to Israel will reach 200,000 person-times.

According to the recent information released by the Ministry of Tourism of Israel, good news has been released constantly on the travel of Chinese tourists to Israel in 2018. On August 2 this year, Hainan Airlines opened a new non-stop flight from Guangzhou to Tel Aviv, after Beijing and Shanghai to connect the two central cities of both countries. Every week, three flights offer convenience to tourists of South China. In September this year, Sichuan Airlines will open a non-stop route from Chengdu to Tel Aviv, which will cover the tourists of the mid-west of China and further promote the economic and trade cooperation and exchange between the two countries.

To facilitate the visa handling process for Chinese tourists, Israel has opened a visa center in three central cities of China, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The three visa centers have been put into operation recently, which has not only introduced a fast application channel for “VIP”, but also accepted applications by mailing and extended and simplified the visa policy for Chinese tourists.