First Flanders Heritage Venues announced
On 26 February, the first six locations to join the network of ‘Flanders Heritage Venues’ were announced. This is a network of unique heritage locations for conferences that Toerisme Vlaanderen is developing together with local convention bureaus.
With the Flanders Heritage Venues, Flanders aims to put itself on the map as the perfect location for large conferences. The aim is to attract more conference visitors as they tend to spend more than ordinary tourists: an average of around 230 euros per night, compared to a maximum of 147 euros by ordinary tourists. “Business people are generous sponsors of our economy. It is a fantastic growth market, which we certainly wish to tap into,” says Flemish Minister for Tourism Ben Weyts.
The locations that have so far joined the network are the ‘Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp’, ‘Botanic Gardens’, ‘Thor Central’, ‘Bokrijk’, ‘De Hoorn’ and ‘Het Predikheren’.
Peter De Wilde, CEO of Toerisme Vlaanderen, sees the Heritage Venues as an efficient way to promote Flanders: “In 2018, Toerisme Vlaanderen managed to convince 58 international associations to hold their conference in Flanders thanks to the collaboration with the local convention bureaus and the specific meeting locations. By 2021, we aim to attract more than 300 international association conferences to Flanders”.