Visit Flanders’ marketing around the World War I centenary has started to see an impact, with visitor numbers up 70% in the first five months of the year compared to last year.
Visitors from the UK made up 37.2% of the number and were the second biggest source market group behind the Belgians.
Around 63.5% of visits were from schools but 23.1% were individual trips and 13.4% came from groups.
Flanders has been heavily promoted in the UK with a blanket promotion at World Travel Market last year and several travel companies organising specific tours or cruises.
In the destination itself several sites and museums were refurbished including the In Flanders Field Museum and Memorial Museum Passchendaele.
“With increasing numbers of British and Commonwealth visitors expected for 2014, we are proud of what Flanders has to offer all age and interest groups in terms of its tourism infrastructure. We are delighted that visitors are impressed with the regions’ respect for WW1 heritage and its ability to convey a universal message of the importance of peace,” said Visit Flanders UK director Andrew Daines.
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