Israel honors 3,000,001st tourist

Israel honored its 3,000,001st tourist—a pastor leading an evangelical group—for 2010.

Jomber Araujo Vladislav, who was leading 120 pilgrims from Brazil, was welcomed Monday in a special ceremony upon his arrival Monday at Ben-Gurion International Airport, as well as by Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov. Vladislav won a future trip to Israel.

Tourism from Brazil has increased 82 percent in 2010, Haaretz reported.

This has been a record-breaking year for travel to Israel. Some 2.9 million tourists entered Israel between January and October, according to a report by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The 3 millionth tourist also arrived Monday.