ICTP pleased to have its second home of Brussels join the alliance

HALEIWA, Hawaii, USA & BRUSSELS, Belgium – The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) welcomed its second home region of Brussels when VISITBRUSSELS joined as a destination member.

HALEIWA, Hawaii, USA & BRUSSELS, Belgium – The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) welcomed its second home region of Brussels when VISITBRUSSELS joined as a destination member.

VISITBRUSSELS is the communications agency for tourism in the Brussels-Capital Region. Its aim is to promote and strengthen the image of the capital of 500 million Europeans. Brussels is classified as Europe’s first sustainable city for its environmental policy. Out of 30 European capitals, Brussels ranks 9th, ahead of Paris and London, in the European Green City Index or ranking of sustainable cities. In particular, Brussels comes joint top with Copenhagen when it comes to public environmental policy.

Since the mid-1990s, the Brussels-Capital Region has been undergoing a constant and progressive greening, with the development of “green continuities” that incorporate green areas and organic corridors into public spaces. Sustainability is gradually moving into the city, in the form of technologies, educational events, places, and leisure activities that are environment-friendly.

Juergen T. Steinmetz, Chairman of ICTP, said: “We couldn’t be happier to have VISITBRUSSELS join our alliance as a destination member, especially since ICTP’s President, Geoffrey Lipman, hails from Brussels. This city in Belgium is a superb example of quality green growth, and, therefore, a wonderful addition to our membership.”

The Brussels region is literally surrounded by a green loop of 63 kilometers of trails that can be explored on foot or bicycle, and is easily accessible by public transport. This bucolic tour takes visitors from parks into forests, crossing pieces of lost pieces of countryside lost amid the city, and dotted with ponds, woods, or marshes. It is an enchanting walk, which won two awards in 2010: an award from the tourism industry in May and a special mention from the jury in the 8th European Town Planning Grand Prix in November.

For more information about Brussels, go to the VISITBRUSSELS website at: http://www.visitbrussels.be .

ABOUT ICTP

The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) is a new grassroots travel and tourism coalition of global destinations committed to quality service and green growth. The ICTP logo represents the strength in collaboration (the block) of many small communities (the lines) committed to sustainable oceans (blue) and land (green).

ICTP engages communities and their stakeholders to share quality and green opportunities including tools and resources, access to funding, education, and marketing support. ICTP advocates sustainable aviation growth, streamlined travel formalities, and fair coherent taxation.

ICTP supports the UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN World Tourism Organization’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and a range of programs that underpin them. The ICTP alliance is represented in Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA; Brussels, Belgium; Bali, Indonesia; and Victoria, Seychelles. ICTP membership is available to qualified destinations free of charge. Academy membership features a prestigious and selected group of destinations.

ICTP has members in Anguilla; Aruba; Bangladesh; Canada; China; Croatia; Greece; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran; La Reunion (French Indian Ocean); Malaysia; Malawi; Mexico; Morocco; Nicaragua; Northern Mariana Islands, US Pacific Island Territory; Pakistan; Palestine; Rwanda; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Sultanate of Oman; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Yemen; Zimbabwe; and from the US: Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Partner associations include: African Bureau of Conventions; African Chamber of Commerce Dallas/Fort Worth; Africa Travel Association; Alliance for training and research in the field of social and solidarity tourism (ISTO/OITS); Cultural and Environment Conservation Society; DC-Cam (Cambodia); Hawaii Tourism Association; International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT); International Organization of Electronic Tourism Industry (IOETI); Livingstone International University of Tourism Excellence, Zambia; Positive Impact Events, Manchester, UK; Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, China; SKAL International; Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH); Sustainable Travel International (STI); The Region Initiative, Pakistan; University of Florida: Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute; University of Hawaii; University of Technology Mauritius; and vzw Reis-en Opleidingscentrum, Gent, Belgium; and University of Technology Mauritius.

For more information, go to: www.tourismpartners.org .

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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