Jerusalem was selected as one of the top 25 most sought after destinations in 2011 in a survey held by the prestigious and popular website “Tripadvisor”.

Tourism:
In 2011 the number of night stays in Jerusalem hotels amounted to 3,854,500 nights, 18% of all night stays in Israel.

80% of the tourists who visited in Israel in 2011 visited Jerusalem.

The most visited sites were the Wailing Wall (visited by 60% of all tourists), the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem (55%), the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem (48%) and the Mount of Olives (46%).

Jerusalem was selected as one of the top 25 most sought after destinations in 2011 in a survey held by the prestigious and popular website “Tripadvisor”; Jerusalem reached the position of number 13 out of 337 tourist destinations worldwide.

Hotel revenues from tourism in 2011 amounted to NIS 1,567,497 billion.

A massive summer campaign by the name “Spend Two Days in Jerusalem” resulted in an increase of 30% in the number of Israeli visitors in the city during the summer.

So far, in 2012 an increase of 44% has been recorded in internal tourism.

The Jerusalem Municipality created a special program to facilitate and promote hotel construction, including close supervision by developers, removal of bureaucratic obstacles, distribution of grants, and decreasing municipal taxes for the purpose of encouraging developers to build additional hotel rooms in Jerusalem.

Of the new hotels that are already designed, two belong to luxury chains: the Waldorf Astoria, constructed with an investment of 150 million dollars and containing 230 rooms, and a Four Seasons hotel containing 200 rooms.

Culture and Sports:
In the last three years there has been a cultural and sports revolution in Jerusalem. Culture budgets were doubled and the number of cultural events and festivals in the city has been tripled. Jerusalem has returned to center stage, attracting the major sports, cultural events and major international events in the country. Jerusalem has become the nationwide leader with the new sports and cultural complexes set up by the Municipality which are intended to host numerous and diverse events. These shows will be delivered by internationally acclaimed performers, and include the Maccabiah and a variety of other leading film, theatre and art schools in the country.

The second international Jerusalem Marathon was held this year, attended by 15,000 runners including 1,500 runners from 50 different countries worldwide. The marathon received positive feedback in Israel and worldwide and significantly contributed to the city’s economy and its branding worldwide.

A new sports arena, funded in part by the Israel Lottery, is under advance construction stages and will become part of the national sports complex which also included the expanded Teddy Stadium (31,000 seats), an Olympic swimming center, an upgraded tennis center, a sports hotel, a light rail station and more.

In addition, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority set up bicycle routes, seating corners, lawns and sports and recreation facilities along HaMesila Park, from the Khan rail station and up to the Malcha rail station, along the old rail route.

Additional figures:
Jerusalem, the nation’s capital, is the largest city in Israel, both in terms of its geographic area, 125.2 thousand dunams (approximately 127 square kilometers), and in terms of residents living in the city. In 1948 Jerusalem’s population amounted to 82,900 people. In 2011 Jerusalem’s population crossed 800,000 as 801,000 residents live in the city, of which 407,000 are Jews (62%), 281,000 Moslems (35%), 14,000 Christians (2%) and 9000 undenominational (1%).

• The word “Jerusalem” is referenced in Google 40,100,000 times.
• The word “Jerusalem” appears in Google 137,000,000 times.
• The average winter day temperature in Jerusalem is 12 deg C and 29 deg C in the summer.
• The overall length of Jerusalem roads is 1,253km.
• The longest street in the city in Menachem Begin Avenue, 15.7km in length.
• The shortest street is A-Tabuna Stairs, 7.60m in length followed by Matityahu Street, 9.55m in length.
• There are 173,055 walking routes in Jerusalem.
• There are 28km of highways in Jerusalem.
• Jerusalem is located in the Judean mountains, therefore there are 34.9km of stairs, for the residents’ convenience.
• There are 2000 archaeological sites in Jerusalem.

This summer the city will host numerous events, including:

• The Light Festival.
• The International Film Festival
• The Front Stage Jerusalem Street Party
• Jerusalem Season of Culture
• The Wine Festival at the Israel Museum
• The International Festival of Puppet Theater
• Hutzot HaYotzer Festival (Arts and Crafts)