Christian tourism generated $4.1 billion for Israel in 2019. It collapsed to $2.22 billion in 2024. Now the Tourism Ministry, Fox News, D'Souza, and Huckabee are rebuilding the pipeline.
2.5 Million Christians Visited Israel in 2019 — Fewer Than 120,000 Came in 2024
Before October 7, Christian tourism was the single largest inbound segment to Israel. In 2019, 2.5 million Christians visited the country — more than half of the 4.5 million total arrivals, according to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. That pipeline generated roughly $4.1 billion in direct spending, anchored by Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea.
The war collapsed it. Total inbound tourism fell 62.7% in 2024 — from $5.95 billion in revenue to $2.22 billion. Christian pilgrimage groups, which depend on group travel insurance and airline access, were hit hardest. Most canceled outright. Only 970,000 tourists of any kind entered Israel in all of 2024.
In 2025, 1.3 million visitors returned — a 30% increase over 2024, but still less than a third of 2019 levels. Christian pilgrims rose from 5% of arrivals to 9%, according to Ministry survey data. The average tourist spent $1,622 excluding flights, up from $1,427 in 2024. The top source market: the United States, with 400,000 visitors — 31% of the total.
Israel's Tourism Ministry Allocated NIS 180 Million to Rebuild Hotel Capacity and Target Evangelical Travelers
The government is not waiting for organic recovery. At the February 2026 International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) in Tel Aviv, Tourism Minister Haim Katz and Director-General Michael Izhakov laid out the strategy: target faith-based travelers first — Evangelical Christians, Jewish diaspora communities, and organized pilgrimage operators — and use them to rebuild the pipeline.
The numbers behind it: NIS 180 million ($58.2 million) in grants approved by end of 2025 to build 2,050 new hotel rooms. NIS 20 million ($6.5 million) allocated to a US-focused digital campaign called "I AM ISRAEL," targeting pro-Israel audiences, evangelicals, and Jewish communities. A new terminal approved for Ben-Gurion Airport to handle projected 22 million passengers in 2026. Delta Airlines resuming flights from Atlanta and Boston. United Airlines scaling to 25 weekly flights by March 2026.
The projection: 2 to 3 million tourists in 2026. "That would be a meaningful recovery, but it will take time to rebuild trust and demand," Izhakov said.
The City of David Foundation, the Pool of Siloam, and the Infrastructure That Converts Pilgrims Into Revenue
The economics of Christian tourism run through a handful of institutions that function as both archaeological operations and tourism infrastructure.
The City of David Foundation (Elad) is the most significant. Founded in 1986 by David Be'eri, the foundation operates the City of David National Park in Jerusalem — the most visited archaeological site in Israel. In 2019, one million visitors walked through the site. The foundation's operating turnover reached NIS 116 million ($32 million) in 2018, with assets valued at NIS 372 million ($103 million). It employs archaeologists, guides, and infrastructure crews, and runs a visitor center, amphitheater, and underground tunnel tours.
The Pool of Siloam — the site where, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus healed a blind man — is the foundation's flagship expansion. The Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel National Parks Authority, and the City of David Foundation announced a full excavation in late 2022. The pool, originally built by King Hezekiah 2,700 years ago and expanded by Herod, will be fully opened to the public as part of a tourist route from the southern end of the City of David to the Western Wall. "One of the most significant sites affirming Jerusalem's biblical heritage will be made fully accessible for the first time in 2,000 years," said Ze'ev Orenstein, the foundation's director of international affairs.
The Israel Museum in Jerusalem holds the Pilate Stone — the only known archaeological artifact bearing the name of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. Discovered in 1961 at Caesarea Maritima, it identified Pilate as "prefect of Judea." It is one of the museum's most visited objects.
The broader pilgrimage hotel layer — the Old City and East Jerusalem properties, the Galilee circuit, the senior clergy vs. mass-market split — is the infrastructure that absorbs the demand these sites generate. Where pilgrims sleep determines which hotel chains recover first.
Fox News, Dinesh D'Souza, and Mike Huckabee Are Actively Marketing the Pipeline to 50 Million American Evangelicals
The demand side is being built in conservative American media — right now.
In August 2026, Fox News published a feature on Dinesh D'Souza's new book The Stones Cry Out, a biblical archaeology survey scheduled for release October 13. D'Souza called Israel "our spiritual homeland" for Christians and urged readers to visit. The piece named the Pilate Stone, the Caiaphas ossuary (discovered in Jerusalem, containing the bones of the high priest who presided over the trial of Jesus), and the Balaam inscription found at Deir 'Alla in Jordan.
D'Souza is not a marginal figure. He is a bestselling author and filmmaker with a large conservative American audience — the exact demographic Israel's Tourism Ministry is targeting.
Separately, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee — an evangelical pastor who led more than 100 pilgrimage trips to Israel before his appointment — launched HolyLandTravel.ai in February 2026 at the IMTM fair. The AI-driven platform is designed specifically for faith-based travel planning. "If you ever thought about coming to Israel, come right now," Huckabee said. "Places that I'm walking right into — whether it's a restaurant, a hotel, or one of the incredible biblical sites — there are no lines."
This is coordinated infrastructure: the Tourism Ministry marketing to evangelicals, the US ambassador personally vouching for safety, a bestselling conservative author producing a book-length advertisement for Israel's archaeological sites, and Fox News distributing it to its audience of roughly 50 million monthly unique visitors.
The $6 Billion Gap Between 2024 Revenue and 2019 Levels Is the Measure of What Israel Needs to Recover
The math is straightforward. Israel's inbound tourism revenue peaked at $8.46 billion in 2019. It fell to $2.22 billion in 2024. The gap is $6.24 billion.
Christian pilgrims accounted for more than half of 2019 arrivals. They spend more per trip than the average tourist. They travel in organized groups that book hotels, hire guides, and purchase entrance tickets in bulk. They are repeat visitors — the median evangelical pilgrimage leader has taken multiple trips. The hotel chains positioned to absorb the recovery — Isrotel in the resort tier, the King David as the diplomatic anchor in Jerusalem — are the ones whose occupancy numbers will move first.
The recovery will not come from secular leisure travelers or business conferences — those segments depend on security perceptions that take years to rebuild. It will come from the faith-based pipeline that was already the economic backbone of Israel's tourism sector before the war. The question is how fast.
The Pool of Siloam opens. The Pilate Stone sits in the Israel Museum. The City of David drew a million visitors in its last normal year. Fox News runs a feature telling American Christians to come walk where Jesus walked. Ambassador Huckabee says there are no lines.
The infrastructure is built. The marketing is live. The $6 billion question is whether the planes fill up.
