Tourism Ministry publishes economic impact of housing evacuees after Oct. 7

The Tourism Ministry shared on Sunday, exactly six months after October 7, a total of NIS 3.2 billion was paid to hotels housing evacuees from Israel’s north and south. 

There are currently 27,000 evacuees being housed in hotels, 21,000 of whom are from the north.

After Hamas invaded on October 7, the government ordered the mass evacuation of 125,000 residents from the south and north out of concern for their safety.

While the Tourism Ministry had not initially been involved in the government meeting to handle the large population of unhoused families and individuals, Tourism Minister Haim Katz initiated the establishment of a civilian situation room, in cooperation with the Israel Hotel Association and quickly created a database of approximately 50,000 hotel rooms to host evacuees. 

Without the involvement of the Tourism Ministry, the government had initially planned for the evacuees to be hosted in public buildings such as student dormitories and schools.

Addressing the mounting costs of funding hotel rooms and the congestion in private businesses, the ministry initiated a program for a subsistence allowance for evacuees who chose not to stay in hotels. 

The allowance paid NIS 200 per adult and NIS 100 per child per day. The program saved the state coffers about NIS 2.5 billion, given that it was much more expensive to house evacuees in hotels, according to the ministry.

The Ministry of Tourism has paid NIS 3.2 billion to hotels for hosting evacuees and about NIS 2 billion, through the National Insurance Institute, to approximately 100,000 evacuees staying independently. 

Evacuees can choose between three routes:

• Hotel - full board. Food, lodging, cleaning, laundry, etc.
• Independent living in the community - evacuees receive a grant of NIS 200 per adult and NIS 100 per child per day. This option supports the evacuees in renting an apartment. The ministry said that most evacuees have chosen this route. 
• The state rents apartments for the evacuees but does not provide a subsistence allowance. As a result, only a few thousand of the evacuees chose this route.