Tourism between Israel and Turkey was traditionally a rather one-sided affair. In 2008, a record year (and a flourishing one) in the relationship between the two countries, over half a million Israelis visited Turkey. But the Israeli Ministry of Tourism cites figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics stating that just 17,253 Turks chose to reciprocate by visiting Israel that same year.

Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since then. The events surrounding the Mavi Marmara flotilla in 2010, extreme statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the growth of the Islamic elements in Turkey and also the economic crisis resulted in several quite arid years in terms of bilateral tourism.

After the Mavi Marmara events, for instance, the number of Israeli tourists to Turkey plummeted, so that in 2010, fewer than 105,000 Israelis actually visited Turkey. On the Turkish side, the number of tourists to Israel dropped to 15,050 in 2010 and just 14,024 in 2011.

In March 2010, however, just two months before the Mavi Marmara events, the Turkish Ministry of Tourism invested about $2 million in a campaign to promote Israeli tourism to the country. The miserable timing of that campaign led to its quick cancelation, and the money invested in it was lost.