Tent City a few years ago had connotations of anxiety and despair (see Occupy Tel Aviv), now the City of Tel Aviv is embracing the idea of tents as they gets ready to host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. AirBNB has already taken over the city, but still hotel prices are too high and the city is anticipating record-high demands of overnight stays in the city. The Municipality is in the process of implementing creative solutions to accommodate the influx of visitors and approved the building of a temporary campsite. The campsite will be set up in the Yarkon Park (Ganei Yehoshua), the largest urban park in Israel, which is conveniently located at a walking distance from EXPO Tel Aviv, where Eurovision will take place.
The “Tent City” will operate for a period of two months; May and June which are filled with international events, including Eurovision and the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, which is the City’s largest annual event.
The 2019 Eurovision Song Contest will be taking place in Tel Aviv between the 14th and 18th of May. The event is expected to attract over 10,000 international participants. Over the last 3 years, the number of international visitors to Tel Aviv has almost doubled and is expected to reach an overall new all-time high in 2019.
From Camping to Glamping; accommodations on site will be available at three different levels:
• Basic camping: where guests are invited to bring their own tent or rent camping gear on site.
• Glamping (combining the words Glamour + Camping): an increasingly popular travel trend; where nature meets luxury.
• Luxury Caravans: A comfortable and spacious caravan fully equipped with bathrooms, air-conditioning and more.
The “Tent City” will host up to 2,000 guests and will include showering areas, a recreation and party area, food and beverages stalls and a bike rental spot. A shuttle service will be available from the camping area to the Eurovision Village; the main Eurovision entertainment venue located at Charles Clore Seaside Park.
Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Ron Huldai: “The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality is planning to host an extraordinary Eurovision experience for the thousands of tourists who are expected to visit Tel Aviv. The “Tent City” is just one example of the many initiatives we are working on, in order to create the perfect tourist experience and make sure that visitors can enjoy everything that the city has to offer. Tourists staying at the camping ground in “The Central Park of Tel Aviv” will benefit from affordable accommodation and will be able to enjoy the Eurovision vibe just steps away from Expo Tel Aviv”.
Minister of Tourism, Yariv Levin: “Tourism in Israel reached an all-time high this year; this momentum creates new challenges, especially in regards to accommodation. This is highly noticeable during the months where major international events such as the Eurovision Song Contest are taking place”.
Glamping can be found all over the western east, like this place Odom in the mountains of Lebanon.
