A Travelling to Tomorrow story is not complete without focussing on the locations where the residents, businesses and tourists stay and how they can be transformed into flourishing destinations.
Visit Mechelen, Tourism Kempen and Tourism Meetjesland, pioneers in Travelling to Tomorrow, completed an intensive learning project and trials in 2019 with the aim of realising the Travelling to Tomorrow and flourishing destinations concepts in their regions and cities. They started by expanding the local network around tourism with residents, businesses and policy. A few experimental projects were also set up in the region and city.
While WWI tourism is one way of preserving heritage and its history, it should also allow for meaningfulness and reflection. Stefaan Gheysen (Director General Westtoer), Stephen Lodewyck (Programme coordinator Centenary of the Great War) and Koen Defour (Researcher Westtoer Knowledge Centre) explain how the Westtoer team achieved this in remembrance tourism (2014-2018) during the Travelling to Tomorrow summit on 12 and 13 September 2019 in Bruges.
