Israel is set to welcome more tourists in 2008 than in any previous year, according to government forecasts.
Some 1.7m tourists visited Israel between January and July this year, 41% more than in the same period of 2007 when visitors numbered around 1m.
The country welcomed more than 260,000 tourists in July, an increase of 22% on the previous year and 75% more than in 2006.
These developments are in line with tourism ministry forecasts that Israel will welcome some 2.8m visitors throughout 2008.
Tourism 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 of the Israeli tourism industry that are being improved include passport control at border crossings, the work of security personnel and the public transport system.
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