Israel expecting record tourism year

The Israel tourist board has revealed that the country is expecting to see a record number of visitors this year.

Some 1.7 million people visited the Middle Eastern nation between January and July this year, with 260,000 taking holidays in the country in July alone.

The rising trend is in line with government forecasts that Israel will welcome a record 2.8 million tourists in 2008.

Work is currently being carried out by the tourism ministry to improve the industry's professionalism and infrastructure in order to handle the increasing number of visitors.

Government minister Ruhama Avraham-Balili said: "The tourism ministry is working to improve the image of the tourism industry's professionalism in order to attract new employees, minimise the turnover of personnel and increase the professionalism of the various sectors of the industry."

Areas that could see improvement include passport control at border crossings, the work of security personnel and the quality of tour guides.

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