The ASBL visit.brussels demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting culture in Brussels, with significant achievements in 2023. The diversity and richness of Brussels' cultural offerings were showcased, notably through competitions supported by the ASBL. The actions of visit.brussels also made a major contribution to the wider objective of decentralising tourism. These achievements are presented in this section.
Promoting culture
888
filming days supported in the Brussels-Capital Region*
+27%
tickets sold via classic ticketing and Last Minute Tickets**
8,568
Art Nouveau Passes sold***
* -19% vs 2022
** 2022 : 206.000 - 2023 : 261.000
*** +260% vs 2022
In 2023, visit.brussels worked to facilitate access to Brussels culture through innovative and sustainable initiatives, marking a landmark year in cultural promotion.
Thanks to its ticketing service, visit.brussels made it easier to book tickets for a wide range of events, expanding its online offering with a new digital ecosystem and strengthening its partnerships with emblematic cultural institutions. The results of these investments can be seen directly, with no fewer than 220,000 tickets sold, representing an increase of 29% on the previous year. In addition, the Last Minute Tickets service democratised access to culture, offering discounted same-day tickets, and contributes to the diversity and decentralisation of the visit.brussels cultural offering as it extends to every municipality in Brussels. This innovative service was a great success, with over 37,000 tickets sold.
Cultural promotion was at the heart of visit.brussels' efforts, with campaigns tailored to a range of target audiences, including a large-scale Meta campaign (Facebook, Instagram) that reached over 5.8 million people. The visit.brussels communication strategy focused on digital media. In addition, the joint cultural communication strategy implemented by visit.brussels and supported by the COCOF, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Vlaamse Gemeenschap and the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (VGC), concentrated the efforts of the institutions mentioned above to promote the Region's cultural offering. Thanks to the creation of the new digital ecosystem, the merging of agenda.brussels content into the visit.brussels web portal and the revision of its content on social networks, visit.brussels not only optimised its online presence but also strengthened regional coordination. The result A database containing 11,653 events spontaneously entered by organisers and 4,307 events imported automatically. Over 1,600,000 visits were made to the agenda pages of the visit.brussels portal (an average of 4,384 per day). A community of 32,505 subscribers also signed up for the cultural newsletter. These achievements testify to our commitment to innovation, sustainability and the promotion of a rich cultural offering accessible to all, affirming Brussels' position as a dynamic and inclusive cultural capital.
: In 2023, Brussels hosted almost 20,000 cultural and tourist events, affirming its identity and influence on a national and international scale. At the heart of this buzz was an eclectic offering, ranging from comics and jazz to street and contemporary art. To support the sector, visit.brussels organised two competitions to promote and enhance its cultural partners. The award criteria included the image of Brussels, the scale of the event, decentralisation, partnerships, sustainability, accessibility and inclusion. This initiative supported 60 projects with a multi-faceted communication campaign in 2023, selected from 139 submissions to organised competitions.
With the organisation of the "Bruxelles sur Scènes" festival in collaboration with the COCOF, visit.brussels promoted the city's intimate and often little-known cultural offerings by encouraging the discovery of unique venues throughout the Region. 531 "Bruxelles sur scènes" passes were sold in 2023.
In addition, visit.brussels also celebrated the diversity of Brussels heritage through the Brussels Renaissance Festival, the Ommegang and the promotion of Art Nouveau. These events showcased the capital's emblematic historic and architectural sites, not only attracting visitors but also raising awareness of the richness of its local heritage.
The influence of Brussels' culture grew considerably thanks to the initiatives led by visit.brussels. In addition, collaboration with the Réseau des Arts and the Brussels Kunstenoverleg, as well as the publication of the Art Guide 2023, strengthened the Region's cultural network, reached a wide audience of enthusiasts and supported local artists.
In 2023, Brussels once again established itself as an attractive location for film shoots, thanks to its quality welcome, diverse settings and rich gastronomic and hotel heritage. The visit.brussels Film Commission played a pivotal role in supporting 304 productions, totalling 888 shooting days and attracting projects from 13 different countries, including 59 international shoots with famous actors. This activity not only stimulated the local economy by boosting the hospitality and services sector, but also helped to strengthen Brussels' territorial marketing. While this activity fell by 19% compared with 2022, it improved in terms of production quality, with a 5% increase in international filming.
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