Israel A Key Global Market For Hospitality Innovation
"This is the start-up capital. It’s the country that thinks like a start-up. What I think Israel needs is a quality accommodation for a good price."
Israel hosted the highest number of tourists in October than ever before. Some 486,000 people, or nearly half a million visitors, came to the Holy Land - devoting 2.5 billion shekels to the Israeli economy. The record number comes at a good time. Tel Aviv will soon be hosting the "Israel Hotel Investment Summit," where hotel managers will come together and speak about tourism and the need to get more accommodations up and running in the country.
In 2000, Israel had about 47,000 rooms for two million visitors. In 2017, the country had 55,000 rooms and 3.6 million tourists. The Tourism Ministry is trying to change that. The government office is incentivizing building by offering grant money to developers and helping them cut through red tape. One of the summit's keynote speakers, Navneet Bali, will be talking about why Israel is a key market for hospitality innovation. Bali is the chairman for Meininger Hotels. The Jerusalem Post first asked him "Why October?"
"In general I would say there was an increase in October because after the summer holidays," he answered. "You have a lot of conferences taking place and even festivals - like Oktoberfest and you also have industry conferences that focus on the autumn period. People want to get their deals done and complete things - so economic activity seems to be good."
Bali hopes within the next two years he will have a hotel up and running in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He says he already has scouts on the ground looking for the perfect place to develop. Bali says Israel is in need of hotels like his that double for a hostel as well. The accommodations are geared toward those who are traveling on a budget. He plans to have private rooms as well as shared spaces for singles with backpacks.
