And the shortlisted projects for 'Best Europe Tourism Project' are...
The shortlisted projects in this category are all listed in alphabetical order
During the 71st D-Day Anniversary in 2015, veteran George Batts pointed out to BBC broadcaster Nicholas Witchell that the British didn't have a national memorial in Normandy. Witchell took it on board and resolved to make it happen.
The result is a spectacular light and airy memorial that lists the names of 22,442 servicemen and women serving under British command, who died in Normandy. One wall has 1,746 names of those killed on the day itself. Thereafter the names are presented chronologically on the 160 pillars of the pergola.
The memorial, on a 20 hectare site outside Ver-sur-Mer, with clear views over Gold Beach, is fully accessible and there is an app that guides visitors around the site and can be searched to locate individual names. Construction was supported with funds from the UK government. Thereafter the memorial is self funded from donations and a three euro car park charge.
Chacho Souvenirs is not your average novelty memento business. It was launched in Gran Canaria in response to the island’s small tourist businesses being hugely affected by the pandemic. From the beginning, 50 per cent of all t-shirt sales were donated to SMEs in the tourism sector. Then, when things started to recover and tourists came flooding back to the island, the company changed tack. It now donates 20 per cent of the profits to helping clean and maintain the island’s spectacular (but heavily used) beaches.
And what are the souvenirs? They’re t-shirts, clothes and accessories with designs that aim to preserve the unique traditions, language, customs and culture of the islands. The majority are proudly made in Canarias and get hand finished in Gran Canaria. The company organises regular beach cleans and events to support and maintain this incredible landscape and its communities.
FLUGT is the world’s first museum dedicated to refugees’ stories: both contemporary and historical. It occupies the site of what was the largest refugee camp for German civilians in Denmark post WW2, now a forest of 4.5 square kilometres. It aims to show the many similarities between refugees then and now.
The museum experience consists of several exhibition rooms and a large outdoor area. The refugees' personal stories are brought to life with visual highlights, soundscapes, animations, interviews and original film. Outside, a model of the former camp indicates its scale.
Here, an immersive audio walk through the forest begins. Visitors hear sounds and voices, experiencing history through the eyes of former camp refugees. This was what daily life in the camp was like. The museum turns statistics into people and conveys the universal experiences, thoughts and emotions of being a human being on the run.
Let's face it, castles can be boring. Often stuffed full of rows and rows of military outfits and weapons, they switch on the snooze button. But Narva Castle Museum shows how to make history light and interesting.
Through great thought and fabulous and sustainable craftsmanship, a modern castle has evolved through a historic one.
The castle is an important one, because Narva forms part of the Estonian/Russian border, with the Russian fortress only separated by a river.
The castle's history is fabulously told through a series of interactive games and exhibits. A favourite is to relax on big bean bags and watch a ceiling cartoon of bows and arrows or play an arcade style game to change one of history's worst war leaders into a figure of fun.
Concerts and conferences now take place in the banqueting halls and a beautiful ornamental garden is used for open air events.
Antwerp, Belgium
Nominated by Mark Bibby Jackson and Victoria Trott
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), which has the largest collection of art in Flanders, reopened in 2022 after an 11-year renovation costing around €100 million. KAAN Architechten increased the exhibition space by 40 percent, for which they won the 2021 European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention, in order to show more of the museum’s contemporary art collection. Making KMSKA more accessible was a top priority – from controversially hanging the artworks in themes rather than chronologically, to putting sculptures from the museum’s collection in the public garden for the community to enjoy. A focus group known as The Finest Hundred, composed of 100 locals from all walks of life, has and is helping to fine tune the museum’s offerings. KMSKA is the first European museum to offer Art Security Tokens, which allow the purchaser to own a share of a painting and raise funds for the institution.
Now select one of the other shortlisted projects to review...
Best UK and Ireland Tourism Project
Best Wider World Tourism Project