Project partners Province of West Flanders + West Flanders Tourist Department (Westtoer)
Contact data
Province West-Flanders
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T 0032 496 59 61 07
Key words promotion, profile, monitoring, cooperation, participation, advertising
Main problems to be solved (analysis) Since 2003, the Province focusses on 3 spearheads, i.a. by communication campaigns. ‘Enjoying. It’s us’ shows the assets on tourism, recreation, culture and sports. These assets are also promoted by Westtoer. There was a lack of participation and consultation on how to promote West Flanders. In the same period we experienced the pressure of our subregions (Coast, Greater Bruges, Westhoek, Leiestreek) to promote their identity within West Flanders. This could lead to fragmentation of our brand.
Policy frameworks to be dealt with/fitting in
Aim of the project -bundling of strategy -pooling of resources (multiplication of the initial regional marketing budget) -realise a national (TV-)campaign to promote ‘enjoying West Flanders’ -dissemination of the brand of West Flanders -monitoring of the campaign
(Expected) Results a campaign that gives a good overview of tourism opportunities in West Flanders and invites inhabitants of Flanders to come to enjoy West Flanders
(Expected) outcome within the WP -To set up a cooperation with Westtoer - To make a selection of A-level tourism opportunities (key qualities) for the campaign - To maximise promotion on tourism and recreation by bundling financial means - To launch a national mediacampaign - A support of sales efforts in tourism
(Expected) outcome for the region as a whole (impact of the project; effects may be written in terms of the sustainability triangle = 3 P approach (people, planet, profit), i.e. benefits on the social, economical and physical part) - to define a clear profile on tourism, recreation, culture and sports by selecting the key qualities - to find a balance between this regional identity and the subregional identity (Coast, Greater Bruges, Westhoek, Leiestreek) - promotion of West Flanders as a region for ‘Enjoyment’.
Planning May-June 2010 + repeated in May 2011
Costs ca. 400.000 euro + 200.000 (2011)
Financing Province +Westtoer, supported by Vital Rural Area
Implementation of the project (cf. CAA)
which stakeholders were involved? -Province West Flanders (governor + deputation) -the Members of the Board of Westtoer -the regional managers of the Coast, Greater Bruges, Westhoek and Leiestreek
what process did you run through to fit the project into local conditions? - To ensure horizontal participation, we set up a spearhead workgroup - Discussion about the central themes and the balance between the regional (West Flanders) and subregional identity how did you sustainably implement the project (locally, regionally)? - Not yet done
KEY QUESTIONS LIST
1 Which successes were achieved so far in the pilot project? We launched a national mediacampaign by bundling strategy and budget. Monitoring showed that 25% of the inhabitants of West Flanders remembered the campaign. The TV-commercial gets an average score of 7,2/10. 10% of those who saw the campaign searched for more information on West Flanders. 92% agrees with the slogan ‘Genieten. Het zit in ons’ (Enjoyment. It’s us) and there is a large support (92%) for the efforts of the provincial government to promote West Flanders.
- what is the background / main reason for these successes? Thorough preparation with the Direction of Westtoer and Deputation of West Flanders
- what set-backs or problems did you face and what were the reasons for this? Endless discussions on the key qualities of the subregions. Discussions on the balance between regional (West Flanders) and subregional promotion This was due to a lack of experience in setting up a major communication campaign in these subregions.
- are there any break-down patterns to be recognized in the project? There is no continuation on cooperation on communication campaigns for the moment between Province en Westtoer
- are these set-backs, problems or break-down patterns easy to solve? How? They were solved by the Province, taking its responsibility in leading this project ; We could work with professional communication agencies
- what are the DO’s and the DON’Ts of the project? set up a clear structure of horizontal participation ( a working group) and define different roles and responsabilities
- what are critical success factors in this project? support by the political level and members of the board of Westtoer as decision makers demonstrating leadership when necessary a strong creative concept
2 What are the expected boundary conditions for the project to be implemented? - in terms of policy frameworks
Alignment with touristic and cultural policy and strategy - in terms of physical circumstances - in terms of involvement of people / partnerships / entrepreneurs / public bodies - in terms of budget and financial support
3 Which related projects can be studied or consulted (other innovative best practice examples) before starting to think on implementation?
4 What is the applicability / transferability of the project? In general we gave the example in bundling budgets to create bigger impact (national communication campaigns) a) as derived from the project results - in terms of critical mass (physical, social, budget) - in terms of the needs of the region or location - in terms of the starting point for implementation - in terms of participation and organization - in terms of time needed for implementation - in terms of expected outcome (spin off for other fields: physical, social, economical)
b) as derived from testing or implementation the project or the project results elsewhere. What were the results there?
5 Which tools does the project bring in to alleviate / help starting up implementation elsewhere? -concept of briefing for communication campaign -concept of monitoring of a campaign -cooperation agreement between two organisations who bundle their budget for a joined campaign.
6 Sustainability a) How is/can the project be sustainably implemented? What is needed to reach this? - in terms of organization - in terms of regional / local networks/partnerships / people - in terms of budget
b) what are the benefits of the project seen from the Profit, Planet, and People side? We promote holidays in our own region (nearby holidays)