The Mayor of Jerusalem has unveiled plans to increase visitor to 10 million a year in the next decade.
The total visitor number sits at 2 million but Mayor Nir Barkat believes the city is one of the world’s most important brands which should be reflected in footfall.
He explained: “There are 3.4 billion people in the world, the majority of whom would say they haven’t been but really want to.
“Utilising the brand to bring in tourists is key to bringing Jerusalem out of poverty as it would create 140,000 jobs.”
The main issue created by this growth is ensuring the infrastructure can cope.
Barkat revealed investment in preparing the city and in promoting the destination has increased tenfold on last year.
He wants to increase room numbers to 30,000 from 12,000, improve roads and public transport, encourage religious and city break tourists and encourage more conferences.
“Twenty years ago Jerusalem was one of the top 10 conference destinations in the world and I want to get back to that position.”
More than $150 million is being invested in new conference facilities, a series of three and four star hotels are in the pipeline and an insurance product is being put together to minimise the potential risks of holding an event in Israel.
As a country Israel is hoping to position itself in the middle to upper market and do more to appeal to Christian holidaymakers.