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As part of an effort to market Israel as a winter tourist
destination for Europeans, the city of Tel Aviv and Israel's
tourism ministry have teamed up with a local hotel chain to
temporarily transform the tower into a two-storey suite, with
hot tub, room service and very unobstructed ocean views.
"There is a phenomenon of hotel rooms in unexpected or unusually
inaccessible places," said Eytan Schwartz, head of Tel Aviv
Global and Tourism, a department of the city administration.
Only 15 couples, winners of an online competition, will get to
stay in the tower, whose stilts are buffeted by the waves.
Boutique hotels have in recent years perched guests in tree
houses, construction cranes and salt flats, but Tel Aviv's is
believed to be the first to occupy a lifeguard hut.
Israel's tourism industry welcomes around four million visitors
a year. The tourism ministry is investing $25 million in a
campaign to encourage them to go to both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,
as complementary destinations.
"Today tourism looks for cities," Amir Halevi, director-general
of the ministry, told Reuters.
"We sell Israel through Tel Aviv."
With its beach, warm weather, wealth of restaurants and buzzing
nightlife, Tel Aviv has become a popular destination among
Europeans, even for long weekends on budget airlines.
In the first two months of 2017, tourist visits rose 20 percent
from the same period last year, according to Halevi.
The one-night stay in the beachfront suite is free for winners
of a contest run through hotels.com. Contenders took pictures of
themselves in beach gear, holding signs with the hashtag
#TakeMe2TelAviv.
Fifteen winners from Europe will stay in the suite before it is
taken down in two weeks. Plans are in the works for a similar
pop-up hotel in Jerusalem's Old City, Halevi said.
(Editing by Luke Baker)
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