Phone boxes have been installed in three key points across Brussels like Mont des Arts (above), so foreigners can call in and ask a passer-by a question
Brussels' convention
bureau has launched a campaign to bring back business and leisure tourists into
the country, with hotel bookings down 20 per cent since the terror-related city
lockdown.
Visit.brussels has
set up three telephone boxes in iconic locations across the Brussels-Capital
region, and is urging foreign tourists to call in and ask random passers-by a
question. The exchange will be filmed on a webcam and broadcast live on https://call.brussels/
The convention
bureau is also urging meeting and congress organisers to return to the capital,
by offering a steady flow of information to address any misconceptions from delegates
about it being a dangerous place.
A large number of
meetings and conferences were cancelled or postponed following the lockdown in
November, and visit.brussels deputy CEO Geert Cochez said average hotel
bookings had fallen 20 per cent since.
"But that is
going steadily up again and figures at the end of January should be at the
level they were one year ago," he said.
Cochez said the
bureau was keen to let the world know it was a safe place.
"There's no
real reason not to come to Brussels yet still we see that not many people are
confident in coming to Brussels," he said.
"We know
congress organisers have many questions or people attending congress or other
events in Brussels still have questions. With the campaign launching we want to
counter the image created in international media during lockdown ... to explain
that life nowadays is normal life, like in any other major European city.
There's not any real reason to be afraid in Brussels."
In its newsletter,
a spokesperson from visit.brussels said: "There has been a noticeable
decline in the number of foreign tourists in the Brussels-Capital Region since
the infamous Brussels lockdown. This decline has serious consequences,
particularly for players in the tourist industry.
"Visit.brussels
is launching the #CallBrussels campaign in order to reassure tourists and to
convince them that Brussels is still a destination of choice."