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For this keynote, we were joined by Yael Froman Ideses, from Tel Aviv Global and Tourism, to learn about investing in personalised urban experiences.

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She started by giving us an overview of Tel Aviv as a destination. Being a small city in Israel, the beach is one of its most important assets, with 320 sunny days a year. Yael also talked about Jaffa, the most ancient port city in the world, which is also the third most popular destination in Israel. She also highlighted the city's vibe, which got Tel Aviv recognised as the 'Mediterranean Capital of Cool' by the New York Times.

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Tel Aviv is considered Israel's cultural centre, as it is home to the National Theatre, National Opera, Philharmonic Orchestra and has over 50 museums, culture centres and attractions. Yael explained that the city is young, with a third of its residents being 18-35-year-olds. Furthermore, Tel Aviv is an attractive destination for the LGTBQIA+ community, having the biggest pride parade in the middle east; but the city is also known as the White City, as it has the largest concentration of Bauhaus buildings in the world, which makes it a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003. Yael explained that the city is also known as a start-up city and that it has been experiencing a rise in the numbers of urban tourists that they receive.

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Yael then explained that this was already too much information for prospect visitors, which is when the investment in personalised experiences comes in. During the pandemic, they tested this personalisation with domestic tourism, which they did through the campaign 'Tailor Your Vacation', which told travellers that whatever they were looking for Tel Aviv had it: music, history, culture, beach...

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As the mentioned campaign had great success, they developed the DigiTel Aviv project, which focuses on the 'new tourist', who is someone who seeks personal experiences, wants everything online, who does recommendation tourism, wants local products and experiences, and is a wise consumer.

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DigiTel Aviv is based on four elements:

1. Direct communication with customers.
2. Personalised information according to what the consumer is interested in, personalised experiences for different social demographics and interests.
3. Consumption in the city.
4. Big Data: giving visitors recommendations based on activities of similar visitors.

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What was the action point to create and adapt to the new tourist idea?

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Yael explained that every Israeli has been to Tel Aviv but most don’t see the city as a vacation destination. With the country borders closed, they saw an urge to personalise experiences for domestic tourists, which resulted in the 'Tailor your vacation' campaign to ensure that the new tourists could enjoy the best of what Tel Aviv has to offer based on specialised recommendations based on their interests.

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Where do you see the role of specialised groups, how do you see the opportunities galvanise for that community?

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Yael explained that the tech community hasn't been too affected by the pandemic. Nonetheless, she explained how they took advantage of their relationship with it to develop tools to allow to offer personalised tips, tours and offerings for different communities, making the unique attractions of Tel Aviv known. This has resulted, for example, in business travellers being aware of the opportunities the city offers and extending their trips in Tel Aviv.