Guide on Israel has become one of Japan’s most popular travel books.
Are Japanese tourists making Israel their destination of choice? If Japan sales of a “tourist bible” on Israel are anything to go by, then the answer is yes.
In recent years, Israel has seen a marked increase in tourism from East Asia, including Japan, China and Korea. In 2008, some 135,000 visitors from East Asia arrived in Israel, an increase of 20 percent from the year before.
Recognizing this trend, the publishers of Japan’s largest travel guide added Israel to the popular Globetrotter series. The new guide book quickly climbed to second place on the company’s best-seller list of guide books by country.
Most Japanese tourists traveling independently view the Globetrotter series as the “tourist Bible” – using it for hotel and restaurant recommendations, and even for shopping in recommended stores.
As a result of the book’s success, a translation will be published in Korean by the end of the year.
