On October 16, 2020, the strict regulations at Israel's largest airport, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion, are to be relaxed. For citizens, this means that they no longer have to be in quarantine when they return from countries classified as green. Due to the “second lockdown”, since September 18, 2020, trips abroad have only been permitted in special exceptional cases.
However, this relaxation has no significant impact on foreigners, as tourist entry into Israel is generally prohibited. A special permit is required for this, which is only granted in rare cases. This also has massive effects on the entire industry: a 76 percent decline has been recorded since the beginning of the year. According to the tourism association, there were only about 783.000 tourists. In the first nine months of the previous year there were still around 3,3 million vacationers. This also has economic consequences, because according to initial official information, this branch of industry is missing around three billion euros. Many Israelis and Palestinians who are employed in tourism have lost their jobs or at least fear.