Jerusalem, Jun 2 (IANS): The Israeli tourism industry will receive a government aid of 300 million new shekels ($85.8 million) to deal with the coronavirus crisis, the Ministries of Finance and Tourism said.

Minister of Finance Israel Katz and Minister of Tourism Asaf Zamir met on Monday with hoteliers' representatives to discuss the difficulties the sector has experienced due to the halt in inbound tourism since early March, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the Ministries, hotels are experiencing additional operational difficulties, beyond the general difficulties that all economy sectors suffered since the pandemic, because about half of hotels' guests are usually tourists.

Thus, the two Ministers agreed on assisting hotels operations, as foreign tourism is not expected to resume in the coming months, and to take other necessary actions to help tourism industry.

Katz said: "Tourism is an integral part of the Israeli economy and is of great importance. The aid is another step in restoring the Israeli economy to routine and growth."

Zamir added that "tourism is in a serious crisis, and it is our job to act as quickly as possible to get it back on track and assist its rehabilitation".