Ashdod is a green, vibrant city by the sea, but it’s not easy to know and experience. Even repatriates and tourists armed with forums and the 2018 guide find themselves in an info-desert.
Going on a trip or deciding to emigrate, the key task becomes the choice of destination.
Tripadvisor, travel portals, city forums and social media accounts — it is not often possible to get comprehensive information, you have to gather it bit by bit. And it is sometimes difficult to formulate a real picture.
Consider Ashdod, an Israeli city on the Mediterranean coast. Tourism is an important component of the city’s budget, which has temporarily been in decline. The city has also consistently struggled to attract returnees.
Ashdod is beautiful, green and diverse. Music and gastronomic festivals are regularly held in the city. The ruins of an ancient fortress neighbor with modern buildings, and the abundance of public spaces and a developing service sector make it comfortable to live in. But most importantly, it is alive.
Along with established landmarks, the city is filled with small signs, optional but adding to the coziness. These include the plethora of small architectural forms found everywhere, as well as non-basic designed routine elements. At the same time, it is often not necessary to spend a lot of money to create a point of attraction.
Everything is clear with the sights. They are poorly described, not all of them are present on the same Tripadvisor. Let’s talk about what becomes noticeable when you "let" the city in.
One of the first things I noticed when I arrived years ago as a tourist and walked along the sea were the mosaics and pictures of the city painted directly on the long fence, which now look like this:
If the inscription is to be believed, it is an exposition of streets, places and landscapes dated 2013. It is always interesting to learn more about such creations, but it is problematic to find this information.
This is the main complaint with city hall’s approach — the pursuit of development lacks full elaboration, adequate visibility and documentation, making it difficult to assimilate and unable to experience the city fully.
A task for a couple of evenings
A problem is seen to be more complicated than it is until you break it down into its components.
The first evening was a nice walk and 423 photos. The second — processing them and sketching a brochure. It includes space for notes and highlighting of special instances:
Missing information about the history of the idea and its realization is necessary for a complete finalization.
And there are many such interesting features in the city! Each of them, being worthily presented, allows you to look at the city in a new, deeper way.
A proposal for the city hall
What can we find about Ashdod?
The site of the city’s tourism center with mediocre localization, which is important for tourists and new repatriates:
A 214 page online guide, dated 2018. We can see the author’s diligence. The result is quite weighty, but not comprehensive, with poor quality photos and not always up-to-date information — after seven years it is not a sin to update.
How to improve
To tidy up the website: content, translation, correction of technical deficiencies. It should be complete, up-to-date and lively, with QR links to its pages in printed products and locations.
Revise content. All pages should be translated into available languages. The description should be useful, not "for a tick": addresses in a clear language with links to transfer them to the navigator; clickable phone numbers; the map is functioning; the mode of operation is translated and without errors — not "א'-ה' 21: 30−09:30, ו' 9:30—14:30, מוצ "ש חצי שעה אחרי צאת השבת ועד", but "SUN-THU 9:30—21:30, FRI 9:30—14:30, SAT half an hour after the Sabbath sets in (around 7pm)". And so on.
Add online 360˚ tours of iconic locations (we've already filmed the Citadel), update graphics including those done from a drone (check out the Ashdod panorama).
Many other useful tweaks and innovations that will take time to work out, so will be started when there is interest.
We have repeatedly raised the issue of developing the city’s image in various circles, including submitting specific proposals and even participating in a competition with the "Open Ashdod" project. We decided for ourselves that we will try this one more time.
We are ready to take on the task of updating Ashdod’s digital image: from photos to website redesign and online guides. All it takes is one step — entrust the work to those who have already proven their involvement.
We don’t need training, a tender and months of approvals, we are ready to make a live prototype now — all it takes is a meeting or a letter. Ashdod deserves more, and we know how to show it.