Israel's tourism ministry announced Monday that groups of tourists with two Covid-19 vaccine doses will be allowed to enter the country, even if more than six months have passed from their inoculation.
Under these new guidelines, only groups of tourists will be allowed to enter without having a booster shot.
The tourism ministry outlined certain conditions for the new regulation which will take effect on Tuesday. The tourists will need to test negative within 72 hours during the whole duration of their visit.
"The road to bringing back all the tourists is still long, so we must act quickly and correctly to bring more to Israel. The Israeli economy needs it and the tourism industry workers need it," wrote Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov on his Twitter account.
At the beginning of the month, Israel opened its gates to individual tourists for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. The move was delayed for several months after a surge of the virus began in the spring.
Individual travellers must have the booster shot in order to enter the country.
Last month, Reuters reported that hotel owners in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Nazareth and in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank say they have yet to see a large increase in bookings.
"It is a great step to start but I am not expecting big numbers until next year," said Joey Canavati, manager of Bethlehem's Alexander Hotel. "At the moment we just want to stop the bleeding, stop digging into our savings."