Tourists in Israel pay more for hotel accommodation than locals

Tourists in Israel are paying more than locals for accommodation at some hotels, even when they are exempted from VAT, according to a survey released by local media on Tuesday. The Marker, Ha'aretz daily's economic supplement, carried out the survey among Israel's best hotels and found that Israelis are paying up to 18 percent less than tourists. For an example, a night at the Tel Aviv Carlton Hotel in November, would cost locals 335 U.S. dollars while tourists would pay 377 U.S. dollars for the same night. For Tel Aviv's Dan hotel the difference is 8 percent, 354 U.S. dollars that Israelis pay versus 386 U.S. dollars for tourists. The Marker's survey also showed that in Eilat, where both Israelis and tourists are exempted from VAT, tourists still end up paying more at many hotels. The reason behind this seemingly unfair treatment, hoteliers told the daily, is in the fact that room prices for Israelis fluctuate depending on the demand for those rooms while tourists get fixed packages handled by overseas agents. On Sunday, the tourism ministry announced new measures to reduce the cost of vacationing in Israel, which many tourists consider pricey. Among these steps are loosening the building requirements for hotel developers and increasing hotel rooms in order to attract international chains to Israel. Despite the high cost of vacationing in Israel, the tourism ministry announced on Tuesday that the industry hit a record high in terms of the number of tourists with 3.5 million people spending at least one day in the country during 2012.