Why This Podcast?
Well, one of the things you should know about coming to Israel, and to Tel Aviv especially, is that most visitors to Israel are really happy with their visit. That is, according to surveys done periodically by the Ministry of Tourism. Almost twenty thousand people took the latest survey, with its results published in 2023.
Respondents were asked to rank how satisfied they were with their visit on a scale of one to five, one being extremely unsatisfied and five being extremely satisfied. 58% gave their visit a five and 32% gave it a four, meaning that ninety percent of visitors were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their visit.
Now this should not surprise you that a governmental department in charge of tourism is releasing a flattering report saying we are doing great. Plus, if I were abroad, walking through an unfamiliar airport, about to take a flight after a few days visit to a foreign country, and a government official was coming up to me asking “well, were you happy with your visit?” I’d probably be as diplomatic as possible. You don’t want to be impolite in these circumstances, right?
But there’s more data in the survey that not only makes it look more genuine but also makes it more interesting. Would you recommend others to visit Israel? With the responses to this question, we start to see that something might be not so perfect. Though 61% said that they would highly recommend and 20% said that they would certainly recommend, 19% were not sure to recommend.
What could be the reason for this sort of disenchantment? The survey takes one more step, that will actually be a leap in our understanding, as it was breaking down the feeling of satisfaction into categories. On a scale of one to five, visitors were most satisfied with the sense of security, giving it an average 4.4 out of five. Second on the satisfaction list was accessibility and public transit, each received 4.1 on average. But the thing most troublesome for people visiting Israel, the category that received the lowest ranking - 3.5 out of five - is… value for money.
Yes, Israel does have its unique qualities, that make 90% of visitors satisfied and 81% of visitors sure to recommend others to visit. With about three out of four survey respondents saying that they visited Tel Aviv on their trip to Israel, it’s safe to say the data is solid for Israel in general and Tel Aviv specifically. So I’m positive that your visit to Tel Aviv is going to be a blast. But the data also shows the shortcomings of a trip to Tel Aviv.
The lack of satisfaction with value for money is consistent with data from other sources. Those following the Economist's list of most expensive cities in the world are already familiar with the fact that Tel Aviv has appeared on the list for several years in a row by now. As a matter of fact, in 2021 Tel Aviv even topped the list.
The bottom line is that visiting Tel Aviv is probably going to be great. That’s something we can extrapolate from the data. But my aim is to help you increase your enjoyment of the trip and this also entails managing expectations. Knowing the challenges of a place and learning to circumvent them is key here.
This leads me to my audio tours. For years I had been looking for an affordable solution for people who wanted to come on a guided tour with me, but it was too expensive for them. A few years ago I created my first audio tour on an app called VoiceMap and I was really happy with the result. I went on to create more and more audio tours in Tel Aviv. The growing numbers of downloads proved to me that this was working well. It’s basically me guiding you in the streets of Tel Aviv, as if I was virtually present. You can hear my voice telling you stories and giving directions. There’s also a map on the app, so you won’t ever get lost. There’s a link in the show notes if you want to learn more.
