7 Oct '13

First World War tourism campaigns launch

Summary

Flemish tourist organisations have launched a publicity campaign to draw tourists to the battlefield sites of West Flanders.

Tourism minister says goal is to draw 500,000 visitors per year

With First World War centenary events starting soon, Flemish tourist organisations Toerisme Vlaanderen and Westtoer have launched a publicity campaign to attract tourists to the battlefield sites of West Flanders.
 

With the slogan “De Grote Oorlog: Om nooit te vergeten” (The Great War: Lest We Forget) the centre of the campaign is a new website in three languages offering information on events, sites, museums and accommodation in the area. One section features Great War journeys into neighbouring areas in French Flanders; visitors can also download a brochure detailing the car trip Life at the Front.

Flemish tourism and heritage minister Geert Bourgeois said that one-quarter of the infrastructure projects announced in 2010, with financing of €15 million, are now completed. The projects – in Ypres, Poperinge and Zonnebeke – are already open and have begun attracting tourists.

“Our goal is to receive 500,000 people a year starting next year with a top-quality, hospitable welcome, so that their experience of the commemoration is meaningful,” Bourgeois said. “In so doing, we can ensure that the message – no more war – is not lost.”

www.flandersfields.be

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First World War

Claiming the lives of more than nine million people and destroying entire cities and villages in Europe, the Great War was one of the most dramatic armed conflicts in human history. It lasted from 1914 to 1918.
Flanders Field - For four years, a tiny corner of Flanders known as the Westhoek became one of the war’s major battlefields.
Untouched - Poperinge, near Ypres, was one of the few towns in Flanders that remained unoccupied for most of the war.
Cemetery - The Tyne Cot graveyard in Passchendaele is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world.
550 000

lives lost in West Flanders

368 000

annual visitors to the Westhoek

1 914

First Battle of Ypres

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