Visit Flanders and VISITBRUSSELS will promote the Great War Centenary 2014-2018. , a four-year remembrance
project set up by the Government of Flanders.
Both the tourism board’s organised a seminar at the Taj Palace in New Delhi on ‘World War I Remembrance 2014-2018’, which is a four-year remembrance project set up by the Government of Flanders. During the World War I, around 72,000 Indian soldiers fought in Flanders as members of the British army (Indian Army Corps), of which 7,000 lost their lives.
Alain Hutchinson, president of VISITBRUSSELS said, “This was the world’s first-ever conflict on a global scale, marking the start of a series of profound societal changes. These changes came to a head at the end of the Second World War, when the founding of the European Community led to the united and collective Europe that we know today. Brussels, as the true capital of 500 million Europeans, is home to the main European institutions and today serves as the international crossroads for culture, diplomacy and economic affairs.”
Citing similar opinion, Peter De Wilde, CEO of Visit Flanders said, “We hope to receive a large number of visitors from India for the commemoration of World War I in Flanders & Brussels. We are all aware of the major role that Indian soldiers played during World War I. The centenary provides us with an appropriate occasion to pay homage to these valiant individuals, and we have been making every effort possible over the past few years to make sure that we provide the victims of the war and their descendants with a fitting tribute.”
Over the last few years preparations have been on in Flanders & Brussels for the commemoration ceremonies that begin in 2014 and will continue over the next four years. Visit Flanders is expecting at least two million extra visitors to the sites and cultural events in remembrance of the Great War in the coming years. The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres has been refurbished and enlarged, and is now home to a WW I knowledge center. More than 500 original objects and documents are on display and visitors can discover four personal stories through interactive kiosks in this state of the art museum. Other important sites are the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery visitor center, the Talbot House, the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 and the Goose Foot Complex in Nieuwpoort.
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