European Capital of Smart Tourism nominees

A new EU initiative aims to promote smart tourism in the EU, foster innovative, sustainable and inclusive tourism development, as well as spread and facilitate the exchange of best practices. The European Capital of Smart Tourism initiative recognises outstanding achievements in four categories: sustainability, accessibility, digitalisation as well as cultural heritage and creativity, by European cities as tourism destinations.

The following cities have been shortlisted as finalists in the competition for the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2019 are:

Brussels (Belgium), Helsinki (Finland), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Lyon (France), Málaga (Spain), Nantes (France), Palma (Spain), Poznań (Poland), Tallinn (Estonia), and Valencia (Spain).


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Family fun at Brussels Expo

EXACTLY 60 years ago, some diminutive blue creatures appeared in the magazine “Spirou” drawn by Pierre Culliford known as Peyo. To celebrate this anniversary in fitting style, 2018 will be #Smurfs Year with, as the smurfing on the cake, the Smurf Experience, from 9 June at #Brussels Expo. 

The Smurf Experience is a unique opportunity to explore the magical universe of these little blue folks. Larger-than-life sets, spectacular effects and adventures create a unique experience to share with family and friends. 

An immersive, interactive, fun and educational exhibition where visitors enter through a giant comic strip and find themselves deep in the forest; they become smaller and smaller until they are the same size as a Smurf. Then they arrive in the legendary village where they learn about the life of the Smurfs through holograms and a 360° application. They then get to sip a magic elixir in King Smurf’s house and become “real Smurfs”.

After Brussels, “The Smurf Experience” will depart on a 5-year world tour.

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Smurfed in Belgium

SMURFS in the sky... On 24 March, Brussels Airlines will present its fifth iconic aircraft in the colours of Belgium and the #Smurfs our little blue friends will feature on the fuselage of a Brussels Airlines Airbus A320. 

SMURFS in the city!  . . . On 17 May, a Smurf fresco will be unveiled near the Central Station.

www.smurfexperience.com

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Eurostar tempting Australian travellers and travel agents

EUROSTAR is tempting travellers with an ‘Early Bird Savings’ promotion that slashes 20 percent off the cost of selected tickets while also rewarding travel agents with a $50 Coles Group & Myer gift card for every $1000 worth of #Eurostar fares booked during the sale period. 

The 20 percent reduction applies to Standard Premier (First Class) and Youth (Second Class) fares booked between 3 October and 10 November 2017. The discounted tickets are valid for travel between London, Paris and Brussels from 2 November 2017 until 21 August 2018. 

The Early Bird fares – available through Rail Plus, Rail Tickets and Infinity Rail – are exchangeable with a fee, but are non-refundable and non-transferable.

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Picture Credit: Planet Blue Adventure 49548826@N02/36860072242 London & Eurostar views via photopin

Brussels Airlines see 5.5% growth in October

IN October 752,290 passengers flew Brussels Airlines to get to their destination. That’s 39,146 more compared to October last year or a growth of 5.5%. Brussels Airlines attracted a mix of business travelers and passengers making a city trip or taking a late summer holiday. 

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One Airline, 255 destinations in 101 countries

LUFTHANSA Group airlines to fly to 255 destinations in 101 countries this winter. The airlines in the Lufthansa group – Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines – will be even a more attractive option for winter holidaymakers and business travellers this winter.

Lufthansa lists a total of 194 destinations in its winter flight timetable and offers approximately 9,668 flights a week.

Austrian Airlines will offer its passengers a wide range of up to 130 destinations in 56 countries for Winter 2016/2017.

Brussels Airlines has significantly expanded its flight timetable, adding services from Brussels to Porto (Portugal), Naples (Italy), Belfast (Ireland),Nuremberg (Germany) and Nantes (France).

Eurowings winter flights 2016/2017 will serve 91 destinations in 34 countries.

SWISS will serve 100 destinations in 44 countries. In addition to this, SWISS will offer connections to holiday destinations around the world in conjunction with its partner Edelweiss during the winter season 2016/2017.

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Picture Credit: TraitorFrog 14417041@N07/2574003946 North Atlantic via photopin.com

Brussels tourism sector hardest hit by terror attacks, says Euromonitor

In the wake of the terrorist murders in #Brussels on Tuesday, industry analyst Euromonitor International has predicted a 10-20 percent fall in bookings to the Belgian capital in the short- to medium-term. 

‘The impact of these terrible events on the travel and tourism in the city is likely to have a predominantly short to medium term impact on the development of the industry, even though, that the sector in the country has been showing modest growth in 2015 as travellers remained cautious, cutting back on their travel plans in a bid to save money,’ said Nadejda Popova, travel project manager at Euromonitor International.

Brussels concentrates most of Belgium’s business services or activities with the highest value added, while its main airport handled 22 million passengers in 2014, making it the 23rd busiest in Europe. Ms Popova noted that the city recorded more than three million visitors in 2014 – an increase of almost four percent on the previous year, while air travel continued to be a major driver of growth in transportation in 2015 in Belgium.

‘The #terroristattacks are expected to slow down travel demand and possibly could lead to a 10-20% decline in bookings following heightened fears of further attacks in the city similar to the tourism performance of such cities as Paris, Madrid, and London following the terrorist attacks in these parts of the world,’ she said. ‘However, this is not expected to have a long-term impact as the European travel industry has proven to be very resilient to such external impacts and recover fairly quickly.’

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Picture Credit: BAFOPAZ à la Bourse de Bruxelles (BELGIQUE) V1</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin

Brussels unveils campaign to win back tourists after terror scares

VISIT BRUSSELS has followed Paris in announcing plans for a campaign to assure tourists following the terror scares at the end of last year.

The city was on virtual lockdown for almost a week in November amid security fears following the November 13 attacks in Paris and the subsequent arrests of terror suspects in raids in Brussels suburbs.

Extra police and military were drafted in to patrol the streets, public transport was suspended and events cancelled. Since the lockdown, and further scares over the New Year, visitor numbers have fallen drastically.

Although it could not provide figures, the city's tourist board admitted a 'noticeable decline' in the number of foreign visitors, and said this 'has serious consequences, particularly for players in the tourist industry'.

It hopes a new campaign, #CallBrussels, will help woo visitors back.

‘Over the past few weeks, the international media has portrayed #Brussels as a war zone that tourists would do well to avoid,’ said a statement from Visit Brussels. ‘This has obviously had dire consequences for the tourist sector, which is currently experiencing a noticeable decline.

‘With the international #CallBrussels campaign, visit.brussels aims to convince tourists intending to visit Brussels that there is no reason to revise their travel plans.’

Aimed at its major markets, including the UK, the campaign will see telephone boxes placed in three landmarks – the Mont des Arts, the Place Flagey, and the Place Communale in Molenbeek. Foreign tourists can call the telephone boxes, via a special website – www.call.brussels – and passers-by will be able to answer their questions.

Webcams will film the surroundings and the interactions will be broadcast live on the website. Video clips shot during the action will be shown via social media and through the purchasing of media space on websites in key markets.

‘The people of Brussels are proud of their region and are no doubt eager to re-establish the truth regarding the situation in Brussels,’ said Visit Brussels.

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Picture Credit: "Brussels floral carpet B" by Wouter Hagens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Bmi boost

BMI REGIONAL is increasing core commercial routes from Bristol Airport and East Midlands Airport from September 3. 

Return services between Bristol and Aberdeen and from East Midlands to Brussels will increase to three times a day on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

It is also increasing the number of flights between Karlstad, Sweden and Frankfurt, Germany.

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New routes for Loganair and BMI

LOGANAIR has increased the frequency of its Edinburgh-Norwich service. The carrier has started a double daily weekday service, adding a third rotation after the Easter holidays to provide a convenient business schedule. As an extra boost to passengers, a Sunday service will also be added, with Sunday frequency increasing to two flights during the peak summer season.

BMI Regional has launched a service from Newcastle to Brussels, the only direct flight between the NE city and the Belgian capital. The route is operated by a 49-seater Embraer jet aircraft twice daily Monday to Friday and on Sunday afternoons. A one-way, 75-minute flight costs from £80 (including taxes).

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