4.12M
Overnight tourists in 2018
71.6%
Visited the Western Wall
4 of 10
Top sites are in Jerusalem's Old City
Visitor Share by Site
Percentage of all international overnight tourists who visited each site. Tourists typically visit multiple sites, so totals exceed 100%.
Full Data Table
Source: Israel Ministry of Tourism, 2018 Inbound Tourism Survey
| # | Site | Region | % of Tourists | Est. Visitors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Wall | Jerusalem | 71.6% | 2,950,492 |
| 2 | Church of the Holy Sepulchre | Jerusalem | 52.2% | 2,151,057 |
| 3 | Old Jaffa | Tel Aviv | 50.1% | 2,064,520 |
| 4 | Via Dolorosa | Jerusalem | 47.4% | 1,953,259 |
| 5 | Masada | Judean Desert | 37.7% | 1,553,541 |
| 6 | Mount of Olives | Jerusalem | 26.6% | 1,096,132 |
| 7 | Capernaum (Kfar Nahum) | Galilee | 26.5% | 1,092,012 |
| 8 | Jewish Quarter (Old City) | Jerusalem | 25.3% | 1,042,562 |
| 9 | Caesarea | Coastal Plain | 20.7% | 853,005 |
| 10 | Yad Vashem | Jerusalem | 19.7% | 811,797 |
Key Observations
Jerusalem dominates. Six of the top ten sites are in or immediately adjacent to Jerusalem. The Western Wall leads by a wide margin at 71.6%, visited by nearly three in four international tourists — making it the single most important site for any Israel tour guide to master.
Christian pilgrimage is the primary driver. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (52.2%), Via Dolorosa (47.4%), Mount of Olives (26.6%), and Capernaum (26.5%) together reflect that Christian pilgrimage tourism is the largest single segment of international visitors to Israel.
Outside Jerusalem, Masada stands alone. At 37.7%, Masada is the most visited site outside Jerusalem and Tel Aviv — a full 10 percentage points ahead of the next non-Jerusalem entry. Its combination of dramatic landscape, cable car access, and the Masada Complex narrative makes it a near-universal stop on group itineraries.
Old Jaffa punches above its weight. At 50.1%, Old Jaffa outranks the Via Dolorosa and Masada, reflecting its role as a leisure and dining destination rather than a purely religious or archaeological one. It is the only site on the list primarily driven by tourism rather than pilgrimage or heritage.
Exam relevance. Every site on this list appears on the Israel tour guide licensing exam. Understanding why each site attracts tourists — its narrative, its physical layout, and its guiding challenges — is as important as knowing its history.
Methodology Note
Data is drawn from the 2018 Inbound Tourism Survey conducted by the Israel Ministry of Tourism, covering 4,120,800 overnight international tourists — a record year and the last full pre-pandemic benchmark. Because a single tourist typically visits multiple sites during their stay, the visitor percentages are not mutually exclusive and do not sum to 100%. Visitor counts are calculated as: percentage × total overnight tourists.