Tourism has always been an important source of foreign currency for Israel. In 1984 this industry earned US$1.08 billion. The Israeli airlines earned an additional US$210 million in touristrelated business. In 1986, 929,631 tourists arrived by air and 18,252 arrived by sea. Another 17,563 tourists arrived from Jordan by land via the Allenby Bridge. Sixty percent of total 1986 tourists originated in Europe, an additional 20 percent originated in the United States.

Although the 1986 figures are respectable, they represent a decline by 13 percent over the preceding three years. Moreover, the 1986 figure for American tourists is 41 percent lower than comparable figures for the years 1983 through 1985. This decline in tourism to Israel in 1986 reflected a general decline in American tourism to the Middle East, which was caused by security considerations and by a weakening of the United States dollar against European currencies.

Data as of December 1988