‘The tourism sector is among the most affected by the pandemic. Accommodation, catering and tourism businesses face enormous challenges around the world and Lithuania is no exception. Therefore, allowing tourists from safe third countries to come to Lithuania is really helping our businesses. It is especially good that borders between Europe and Lithuania have been opened for the Israel people; close relationship between the countries, tourism that was growing steadily before the pandemic allow us to expect mutual benefits,‘ said Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė.
The Council of the European Union makes recommendations every two weeks on the lifting of restrictions on travel to the EU for third-country nationals; since last Thursday the restrictions are no longer imposed on Israeli nationals. The same applies to nationals of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, China (in case this is done on a reciprocal basis).
According to the data of public body Travel Lithuania, the flow of tourists from Israel in Lithuania increased by 92 percent between 2015 and 2019, which makes from 15.7 to 30.2 thousand. Israel is also leading in terms of the average length of stay: before the pandemic, the average travel time for a tourist from Israel was 4.8 nights, and the total number of overnight stays was over 144 thousand.
The travelers from Israel make a significant contribution to the tourism revenues in the Lithuanian budget. One tourist from Israel spends on average EUR 361 during his/her stay in Lithuania, which is more than one tourist in our country (EUR 338).
Enterprises providing accommodation and food services rank second in terms of public support received. Before 10 May, subsidies allocated to them amount to EUR 14.3 million.
