Tel Aviv organizing cruise ship hotel for Eurovision
500-room ocean liner set to dock off the coast of Israel for a week
Tens of thousands of visitors are set to descend on Tel Aviv in May for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest – and they’re going to need somewhere to sleep.
Hotel room prices are skyrocketing and filling up fast. And while many will opt for Airbnb options, the Tel Aviv Municipality is trying a more creative solution.
Channel 2 News reported Monday night that the city has just signed a deal to bring a 500-room cruise ship to dock near Tel Aviv and house visitors for the week of the Eurovision.
The municipality confirmed Tuesday that it will be bringing an Italian ocean liner to the shores of the city and renting out rooms on board to guests during the Eurovision.
“The prices of hotels in Tel Aviv are very, very high,” Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai told the TV network. “It’s very important to create pressure to lower the prices – and bringing a cruise ship to the shores of Tel Aviv, that’s 500 rooms and reasonable prices.”
While physical work on the Eurovision Village housed in Tel Aviv has yet to begin, the municipality has big plans for the space.
According to a report broadcast Sunday on Channel 10, the Eurovision Village, hosted in Charles Clore Park, will cost NIS 5 million. The municipality is organizing a week of events and performances for the many visitors – in part because tickets for the Eurovision itself are likely to be hard to come by. But in the village, there will be performances from past Israeli Eurovision contestants (and winners), food, DJs, sporting events and parties well into the nights.