Travel to Israel reached a new all-time high in May with the arrival of 268,000 international tourists staying more than one night – a 5% increase compared to May 2010.

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"We are thrilled to see an increase in travel to Israel during the month of May despite the recent regional turmoil," says Haim Gutin, Israel commissioner for Tourism, North and South America, "and this trend promises to continue through the warm summer months."

Some 16,000 of the 40,000 one-day visitors to Israel in May arrived on cruise ships – a 100% increase in cruise travel compared to May 2010.

Cruise travel to Israel was also expected to reach a new all-time high in June with the confirmed arrival of 50,000 tourists and crew docking in the Israel port cities of Ashdod and Haifa.