Tourists looking to visit the Flemish city of Mechelen will be able to take advantage of a new initiative aiming to attract people back post covid with the promise of a free night in a hotel.
Thanks to a €100,000 boost from the city, anyone looking to book three nights in Mechelen between 1 July and 30 September only has to pay for two nights. Through this promo, the city hopes to entice people back to the hotels and a city reopening after the lockdown.
"The summer holidays are just around the corner and the vaccination train is racing full speed ahead," remarked alderman for tourism Björn Siffer." Horeca businesses, shops and other enterprises that depend on tourism in Mechelen were hit hard. That is why we are once again giving away 1,000 free nights with breakfast to anyone who books at least three nights at one of the participating hotels, hostels, B&Bs or holiday homes."
Booking and stays must be made between 1 July and 30 September 2021, or while places last, to take advantage of the benefit. The 22 participating establishments can offer an extra night's stay and breakfast to a total of 1,000 leisure tourists within this period.
Credit: Jules Johnston
The hotels involved are:
3 Paardekens, Atrium B&B studio, B&B Alegria, B&B In den Roden Schilt, B&B Insi2, Brewery Het Anker, De Lachende Engel, Dusk Till Dawn, Holiday Inn Express Mechelen, Hotel Elisabeth, Hotel Vé, GSB Short Stays Flats & Rooms, Martin's Patershof, Muskepitter, NH Mechelen, Nova Zembla, Novotel Mechelen-Centrum, Parkhotel Montreal, Porta Superia, Vakantiewoning Louis, Hotel Van der Valk Mechelen, VixX Suites.
"Business tourism is still very minimal, so together with Visit Mechelen and the accommodation providers in Mechelen, we are focusing on leisure tourists," Siffer added. "Mechelen has many different assets, with its historical inner city and its blue-green periphery, with activities for young and old, for sportsmen and women and for connoisseurs... You won't get tired of it in a day."
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A similar initiative put into force last year saw a total of 2341 overnight stays booked, of which the city paid for 1000. Initially started as a buy two get one free offer in summer, it was changed to buy one get one free from September to December to support the sector.
More information on the initiative - and the hotels involved - can be found here.
