Israeli Hotels Are Among Most Expensive in World, Report Shows

The only three countries ahead of Israel are Monaco, Oman and Mauritius.

Sep. 4, 2014

Eilat. El Al was given permission to resume its old flight route from Ben-Gurion airport to Eilat for another two weeks. Credit: AP

Rina Rozenberg Kandel

Sep. 4, 2014

Israel is the world’s fourth most expensive country when it comes to hotel stays, according to a biannual report issued by hotels.com.

The website, which offers bookings at more than 250,000 hotels in 60 countries, publishes the report twice a year based on reservations made through the site.

Hotel stays in Israel became 5% more expensive in the first half of 2014 compared to the first half of 2013, at 880 shekels (about $250) a night, up from 840 shekels.

This figure does not include data from tourists who came on organized trips, who account for more than 60% of Israel’s foreign tourism market and tend to pay less on average for their hotels.

The three countries ahead of Israel are Monaco (an average of about 1,320 shekels a night), Oman (1,120 shekels) and Mauritius (940 shekels). Hotel prices in Monaco jumped 21% over the period surveyed, the highest out of all countries in hotels.com’s report.

Russia ranks eighth, while the United States is 13th and France is 23rd.

The report also ranks cities. Jerusalem is the 32nd most expensive city on the list, where an average hotel night cost 690 shekels during the first half of the year, 8% less than it did in the first half of 2013.

The data relates to the period before Operation Protective Edge, when Israel’s tourism industry was booming. Tourism was the sector hardest hit by the fighting.