VISITFLANDERS

Tourism Agency of the Flemish Government

VISITFLANDERS

STAFF VISITFLANDERS

150 colleagues in the head office Grasmarkt 61 - 1000 Brussels

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50 colleagues in 10 foreignoffices

and 6 representative offices

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FOREIGN OFFICES

LondonUnited Kingdom &

Ireland

ParisFrance

Barcelona

Spain

MilanItaly

The Hague

The Netherlands

ViennaAustria

Cologne

Germany

New York

USA & Canada

Beijing

China

TokyoJapan

representative

offices

New Delhi & Mumbai

India

MoskouRussia

Zürich

Switzerland

Sydney

Australia & New Zealand

Sao Paulo

Brasil

Vejle(Denmark)

Scandinavia

Johor Bahru

Asia

regional management

We invest in the sustainable development and promotion of Flanders-Brussels as a top

tourist destination.

Mission

FLEMISHREGIONS

FLEMISH ART CITIES

AND BRUSSELS

FLEMISHCOAST

DestinationFlanders with:

HERITAGE AND ARTS

RICHGASTRONOMY

FASHION

Product lines:

CYCLING AND BIKE CULTURE

CYCLING AND BIKE CULTURE

LEISURE CYCLISTS CAN ENJOY:

- 1,2OO km of long distance cycle routes- Over 100 of themed cycle loops- Over 500 bicycle friendly accommodations- Cycle node network of around 8,000 miles

of cycling routes

OF THE TOURISTS STAYING IN THE FLEMISH REGIONS

CYCLE DURING THEIR HOLIDAY40%

OUR CYCLING CULTURE IS ONE OF

OUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITIONS.

MORE THAN JUST BICYCLE ROUTES.

CYCLING IS PART OF OUR HERITAGE.

IT’S IN OUR BLOOD.

FLANDERS LIVES ANDBREATHES CYCLING.

CYCLING AND BIKE CULTURE

CYCLING AND BIKE CULTURE

- WORLD TOUR ROAD RACESE3 HarelbekeGent-WevelgemRonde van VlaanderenEneco Tour (stage race)

- TOUR DE FRANCE departures/finishes

- WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSin Road cycling, Cyclocross, BMX

FACTS AND FIGURES RONDE VAN VLAANDEREN

1913

NOW: one of the five big ‘monuments’ of cycling, UCI World Tour Race

FIRST RACE

1 million of spectators from all over the

world.

Global TV audience

50 million:Direct viewers

160 million:Total viewers

16,000 people ride the sportive before the race

500

ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS

€14.1 million of added value

for the destination

Food & drinks: €7.25 millionTransport: €3.50 millionOther: €2 millionOvernights: €1,35 million

-- Home to some of the best cyclists --

CYCLING AND BIKE CULTURE

WWW.CYCLINGHALLOFFAME.COM

EDDY MERCKX

1

BEL - POINTS: 8020

RIK VAN LOOY

2

BEL - POINTS: 4900

ROGER DE VLAEMINCK

3

BEL - POINTS: 4110

FRANCESCO MOSER

4

ITA - POINTS: 3600

RIK VAN STEENBERGEN

5

BEL - POINTS: 3530

JOHAN MUSEEUW

6

BEL - POINTS: 3460

PAOLO BETTINI

7

ITA - POINTS: 3460

TOM BOONEN

8

BEL - POINTS: 3330

FAUSTO COPPI

9

ITA - POINTS: 3130

SEAN KELLY

10

IRE - POINTS: 3080

CYCLING AND BIKE CULTURE-- Cutting edge bicycle

industry --

- Ridley bicycles- Lazer helmets- Bioracerclothing- Eddy Merckx Cycles- …

- Flanders Bike Valley

HOW DO WE TRANSLATE THISINTO A TOURISM EXPERIENCE?

Unique opportunity to develop, position and promote Flanders as a cycling destination

2013 marked the 100th anniversary of the Ronde van Vlaanderen

CATALYST

VISITFLANDERS + Flanders Classics

RONDE 100 Focus: DEVELOP touristic cycling products & reputation building

Tourism sector \ Media \ Trade \Cycling sector

STRATEGY

RONDE #100 Focus: Product promotion Conversation

OUR GOALS

Flanders is an all year round cycling mecca for cyclingfans!

You can have a Ronde experience in August. If you’re lucky it might even rain…‘ ’

OUR GOALS

Put cycling in flanders on the bucket list of the passionate cyclist

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If you call yourself a real cyclist you must at least have ridden once our bergs & cobbles‘ ’

- Sportive cyclists

- Spectators for cycling events

- Visitors to our cycling museums, cycling

heritage, shops, pubs

PASSIONATE CYCLING COMMUNITYChallenge, suffer, be like a pro

TARGET GROUP

MIDDLE AGED MEN IN LYCRATrend: women & cycling

MARKETS

NICHE MARKETING: You will find passionate cycling fans in any market. But we make some choices.

NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES (EASY TO GET HERE): English speaking countries (cycling is very popular) Cycling nations (tradition in cycling)PRIORITY

1

PRIORITY 2

PRIORITY 3

the Netherlands, United Kingdom & Ireland, US

France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark/Scandinavia, Austria & Switzerland

rest of the world

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

VISITFLANDERS launched project call

RONDE100

3 CATEGORIES

:1 / Events with a clear link to the celebration of

the centenary of the Ronde Van Vlaanderen. 2 / Investments in infrastructure.

3 / Digital & audiovisual products.

Budget:

€3 million

Projects in each region had to match the positioning we set out in the marketing plan and shouldcontribute to the general mission:

EDDY MERCKX

BICYCLE INDUSTRY

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

FLANDRIEN

BERGS & COBBLES

TOUR OF FLANDERS

GENT-WEVELGEM

CYCLOCROSS

FLANDERS IS CYCLING

30 APPLICATIONS

SCREENING

15 PROJECTS WERE SELECTED

30

15

Some examples / Events

De Retroronde

Some examples / Events

Break Away

Break Away

Some examples / Events

Ronde 100 Classic

Some examples / Infrastructure

Restoration Tour of Flanders Visitor Center

Some examples / Infrastructure

New Sven Nys cyclocrossexperience center

Some examples / Infrastructure

New Tour of Flanders cycling routes with time registration

Some examples / Digital

Websites andapps

DESTINATIONPROMOTION

APPROACH

Business-to-Business / MEDIA

On the anniversary of the Ronde (May 25th), we invited100 journalists and bloggers to discover our cycling culture. We paid their transfers, accommodation and meals.

RESULT:

- A great number of stories were published in newspapers, magazines, and on websites, mainstream and specialist

- The total estimated promotional value of the press coverage achieved during this period is estimated at over €1.5million (AVE).

Stories were published in newspapers, magazines, and on websites, mainstream and specialist, including AD (Netherlands), RennRad(Germany), Telegraph Online (UK), DT (Spain), Velo News (USA), IlGiornale (Italy), Svenska Cycling Plus (Sweden) and Cycle Sports(Japan).

APPROACH

Business-to-Business / TRADE

We approached cycling tour operators to communicate our offer.

WE WERE PRESENT AT THE MAIN TOURIST FAIRS:

- World Travel Market in London

- ITB Berlin

FUTURE PROJECTS

MAXIMISING THE INTERNATIONAL TOURISM IMPACT OF KEY CYCLING EVENTS

Presenting an holistic Flanders experience through major events

- Partner with Flanders Classics - Tour of Flanders

- helicopter images of points of interest, tourism information on websites, info press package, ...

CYCLING AS PROMOTION TOOL

CYCLING AS PROMOTION TOOL

Goodexample:

DESTINATION BRANDING THROUGH A CYCLING TEAM

BILLBOARD ON WHEELSPartnership with Topsport Vlaanderen (new branding)

CYCLING AS PROMOTION TOOL

BRANDS OF FLANDERS AS AMBASSADORSJoint-promotion with Flemish partners such as Eddy Merckx Cycles, Ridley, Bioracer, …

PRESS TRIPS, TRADE SHOWS, OFFER TO TOUR OPERATORS- Pick up your bicycle programme- Merckx travel- Special prices for tour operators who purchase Merckx

CYCLING AS PROMOTION TOOL

100th edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen