3,000 km of cross-border tourist routes will be available on the “Ardennes All Access” website, along with photos, videos, and feedback from travellers, revealed, on Monday morning, representatives from Tourism Federations from the Namur and Belgian Luxemburg regions as well as from the French Ardennes Departmental Tourism Committee. The website will be a “real online guidebook”, stemming from the Interreg IV European project, recently renamed “Ardennes Tourisme GPS”. This project was launched in October 2009 with a global budget of 660,000 euros, of which 50% are financed by the European Union, and aims with these routes to restructure, modernise and systematically organise the promotion of tourism in the region.
Four themed circuits in France were extended in Belgium, a new ‘beer-tasting route’ was created, and four cross-border walks and one river cruise were improved and promoted.
Greater synergy and better networking of local professionals were achieved with about 100 meetings, and with the creation of “Promete”, a cross-border information platform. 300 “persons of interest” broadcast tourist information and 115,000 leaflets in 3 languages were handed out.
“Wallonia needs an identity that is both more striking and of more international relevance, but it also needs rewarding cross-border collaborations. From now on, there is one strong centre of attraction for tourists in Ardenne, covering both sides of the border. Ardenne adds value, has a real role in our cultural heritage, our geography and our personality”, announced Rene Collin, minister for Tourism in Wallonia and former president of FTLB.
(Source: Belga)
