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.