4 Mar '15

Talking Dutch: Don’t mess with Blankenberge

Summary

A Flemish TV personality has upset the people of Blankenberge with criticism of their town

 

Derek Blyth on an Albanian joke

Flemish TV host Tom Waes likes to trek around the world looking for adventures – Kamperen tussen de wilde beren, of een trektocht bij -50 graden Celsius – Camping among wild bears or hiking in temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius, according to De Morgen.

Waes has just set off on his second world tour, with visits planned to exotic destinations like North Korea, Spitsbergen and Panama. Wanneer Tom Waes op reis gaat, mag het wat meer zijn dan een weekje all-in aan de Turkse Riviera – When Tom Waes goes on holiday, it’s more than just a week all-in on the Turkish Riviera, the paper explains.

But it looks like the intrepid traveller is going to have to spend a couple of nights in the beach town of Blankenberge if he survives the grizzly bears and the frostbite.

In his first broadcast of Reizen Waes – Travelling Waes, he visited the Albanian beach resort of Dürres (pictured). “Het is hier juist hetzelfde als in Blankenberge” – “It’s just like Blankenberge here,” he said to camera. “Het is gewoon afschuwelijk” – It is simply horrible.

Blankenberge was not amused. Blankenberge kwaad op Tom Waes voor Albanese grap – Blankenberge angry at Tom Waes for Albanian joke, read the headline in De Standaard.

“Waes moet zijn research beter doen, want zijn clichébeeld klopt niet” – “Waes needs to do better research because his stereotyped image isn’t true,” insisted the beach town’s mayor Patrick De Klerck.

No ugly mess

The town councillors were so incensed that they discussed the programme at their next meeting. “We zullen Tom Waes uitnodigen om hier een dagje door te komen brengen” – “We’re going to invite Tom Waes to come here and spend a day,” said the tourism alderman, Philip Konings. “Het kan hier druk zijn, maar het is geen lelijke, chaotische boel” – “It can get busy here, but it’s not an ugly, chaotic mess.”    

Waes was not available for comment. He was heading off to his next destination. So De Morgen sent a reporter to check out Blankenberge. She met Ann Hooft of the tourist office. “We worstelen al jaren met ons imago” – “We have been struggling for years with our image,” Hooft told the journalist. “Het problem is alleen dat je heel moelijk van een slecht imago af geraakt” – “The problem is that it’s very difficult to shake off a bad image.”

No one denies that the beach can get crowded, she said. But wie iets verder zou gaan, zou zien dat we ook andere troeven in huis hebben – Anyone who looks a little bit further will discover that we have other treasures. Zoals de prachtige haven of de hippe beach bars – Like the beautiful harbour and the hip beach bars.

Waes will discover all this when he visits – unless a grizzly bear gets him first.

Photo courtesy VRT

Now read this

Flemish coast

The Flemish coast is a 67-kilometre sandy stretch on the North Sea. With its wide beaches, quiet dunes and polders, it’s Flanders’ most-visited tourist attraction.
Day-trippers - A two-hour drive at worst from most Flemish cities, the coast especially draws day tourists during the summer.
Kusttram - Connecting Knokke all the way to De Panne, the “Coast Tram” is the staple means of transportation along the coast. It’s the longest tramline in the world.
Theater Aan Zee - Every summer, a 10-day music and theatre festival is organised in and around Ostend.
10

coast municipalities

67

kilometres long

3

million visitors annually

  • Visit Flanders
  • The Belgian Coast
  • Westtoer

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