Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrine Armonaite says the government is offering a helping hand to local businesses by reopening the borders to tourists from Israel and other "safe third countries".
"It is especially gratifying that the borders of Europe and Lithuania have opened up to the people of Israel as close ties between the countries and stable pre-pandemic growth in tourism leads to expect mutual benefits," she said in a press release.
The Council updates its recommendations on restriction-free travel by non-EU nationals every two weeks. Israel was added to the list last Thursday.
Other recommended exceptions to the EU travel ban include Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, and China ("subject to confirmation of reciprocity").
According to Lithuania Travel, the government's tourism promotion agency, the number of Israeli tourists in Lithuania surged by 92 percent between 2015 and 2019.
Israel also leads in terms of the average length of stay, which amounted to 4.8 nights per tourist before the pandemic.