Wednesday April 28, 2021
I've Been Thinking:

Israel is starting to let tourists enter the country. Hopefully, the doors will soon be open to every tourist who wishes to enter.

Until now, Israeli authorities have been vigilant - not letting tourists in and even putting returning Israelis through a very rigorous regiment. Some have ankle monitors, others were put in forced isolation in hotels, still others isolated at home.

How can Israel’s behavior be compared to other countries? The Jerusalem Post asked the question of a health professional government source.

The source responded: “Countries around the world are open to varying degrees …

You have countries like Australia and New Zealand, which are totally shut to tourists, and then there is the European Union, which says that EU citizens can only move from country to country under certain conditions. Then you have countries like Estonia, Iceland and Slovenia that are letting in vaccinated people from certain countries only.”

“Then, on the other hand, we see countries like Greece, Cyprus and Portugal rushing to let people in as fast as they can. As a rule of thumb, countries whose economies are heavily dependent on tourism are willing to take greater health risks to reopen than others. In Israel, about 250,000 people are in the tourism industry, but in others, it makes up 20% of GDP.”
Not bad.

I predict that Israel will slowly continue to open.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are employed in businesses connected to tourism. Hotels, for example are slowly opening - 30% are still closed.

Tourism will certainly bolster, even lift, Israel’s economy.

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