Israel recently welcomed the first British group of tourists since the Covid-19 outbreak as part of its process of to gradually reopening borders to vaccinated international visitors. The British group, flying to Israel with British Airways, had 30 people and will be in Israel for a period of ten days, visiting places such as Jerusalem, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv and Jaffa.

Upon their arrival at the terminal, the tourists were greeted by Israel ministry of tourism representatives, who escorted them through the routine immigration and recently added PCR tests mandated by Israeli law for all incoming passengers. The country is in the process of running a pilot for vaccinated tour groups, in order to determine the best way to reopen its skies to vaccinated foreign visitors.

Due to the successful vaccination programme thus far, it is expected that Israel will allow entry for individual vaccinated travellers as soon as July 1. Israel is a world leader in the vaccination rollout, with some 85 per cent of its adult population inoculated. As a result, it has curbed the spread of Covid-19 and recently announced that the requirement for masks to be worn indoors has been lifted, marking the end of one of the last major coronavirus restrictions remaining in Israel.

Sharon Bershadsky, Director, Israel Tourist Office UK said authorities are delighted to welcome the first organised British tourist group to visit Israel in over a year. She mentioned that Israel has always been an attractive destination for British travellers, with unparalleled historic and religious sites sacred to three religions, vibrant cities, delicious food and friendly people. She also shared that with Israel being one of the few countries on the green list and set to open up further to international tourists ahead of the summer, it can be hoped that the group will be the first of many to come for vacationing in Israel.