Nominations are open for the latest edition of the visit.Brussels awards, which reward touristic initiatives contributing to the cultural standing and attractiveness of Brussels, both within Belgium and on the international stage.
Organisers of projects, activities or events held in Brussels throughout the year can sign up to any of the nine categories of the awards, which will be selected by members of the public and professionals through two rounds.
The Evening Experience category will reward one event and concept which notably contributed to the "richness" of life in Brussels after dusk, while the Most Noted Exhibition will see one artistic event lauded for its contributions to the Brussels art scene.
Professionals in the food or hospitality scene will also be able to be included in the city's nominees roster, with categories such as Best Gastronomic Experience and Hotel Newcomer, with the former being voted on and later judged on the basis of its concept, and not necessarily based on the quality of its food or service.
International events, congresses or salons organised for either a professional public or a wider audience in Brussels will also be put up for a reward, with one category (New Event and Touristic Location) rewarding the opening or the revamp and repurposing of a location for tourism activities.
Public or semi-public actors, such as regional agencies or one of the Brussels municipalities, will also be in the run up to the awards, with visit.Brussels offering recognition for their promoting of tourism in the wider Brussels region.
Lastly, the 2019 edition of the awards will add of green into the mix, with the tourism agency now giving out an award for Sustainable Initiatives of the year, for projects who add to the city's touristic pull all the while using and promoting responsible tourism from a social, economic and environmental perspective.
The winners will be selected first by a round of voting, in which members of the public will vote for their favorites in each of the nine categories, with professionals from the tourism sector later selecting the final winners out of the bunch.
Nominees can be added and add themselves to the roster until midnight on 17 January 2020, with the voting set to kick off on 3 February and last for around a month, closing the start of March.
The winners will be announced during an evening gala, set to take place at the start of April 2020.
The previous edition of the awards saw the KANAL Centre Pompidou arts venue, housed in the building of a former Citroën gare, take home the price for New Event & Touristic Location while The Smurf Experience, organised on the 60th anniversary of the Belgian cartoon characters, was named the Most Noted Exhibition in last year's awards.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
