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by Nick Kolyohin

JERUSALEM, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israel's annual international tourism exhibition International Mediterranean Tourism Market 2020 was held in Tel Aviv from Tuesday to Wednesday.

About 20,000 participants from around the world took part in the biggest tourism event in Israel, including around 570 exhibitors, over 50 countries' representatives, and dozens of senior managers and ambassadors.

Among more than 200 booths, China had one of the biggest ones in the event and attracted a lot of attention from participants and visitors.

Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin told Xinhua that the country saw a significant increase in the inflow of Chinese tourists in 2019.

"We had for the first time more than 150,000 Chinese tourists coming to Israel," he said.

Levin expressed his belief in the continuous growth of Chinese tourists in Israel, adding that "the relations between Israel and China are strong."

Tao Chen, director of China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv, told Xinhua that "it is the first time for China to attend the event as an exhibitor."

The number of Chinese tourists entering Israel is increasing rapidly, and vice versa, as the relation between the two countries grows closer and more non-stop flights were launched, said Tao.

China Cultural Center, together with China's Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, and some travel agents focusing on designing travel routes in China for Israeli tourists, took part in the event.

Kobi Zussman, country manager of Israel of International Air Transport Association (IATA), said in an interview with Xinhua that he expects constant growth of global tourism.

"We in IATA expect that globally air traffic will grow at about a rate of 100 percent in the next 20 years," said Zussman.

An increase in fuel efficiency of aircraft because of technological improvements and greater competition between airlines would lead to a further reduction in ticket costs.

Meanwhile, an increase in income, as well as population growth, are among the reasons for the expected growth in global tourism in the coming years, according to Zussman.

At present, there are 4 billion global passengers, the number of which is expected to double. This growth will mainly come from the Asia Pacific, especially from China, according to Zussman.

"The Chinese tourist market is playing a major role in the outlook for global aviation activity," said Zussman. Enditem