Carefree and safe staycation with YouFlanders

App shows live heatmap of travel destination

In close collaboration with Orange Belgium and data engineering company, Cropland, VISITFLANDERS offers tourists the opportunity to find out real-time people attendance all over Flanders via an easy-to-use application. The app goes by the name of "YouFlanders" and allows visitors to safely plan a trip. The app provides as well useful information about the corona and safety measures to be followed on the destination.

VISITFLANDERS used the quarantine weeks to search for ideal ways to put our Flemish tourist assets in the spotlight, both for visitors and the companies, merchants and organizations of these attractions. According to a survey conducted by VISITFLANDERS, 1 in 3 Belgians prefers a holiday in their own country over a holiday abroad during the upcoming summer months. With the coronavirus crisis and the security measures implemented, it is essential that visitors and the tourism sector take the influx of tourists in real time into account to respect social distancing. With its initiative, YouFlanders offers an excellent solution by allowing both parties to exchange information about the situation in real time.

Orange Belgium collaborated with data engineering company Cropland and VISITFLANDERS in providing near real time data to report on the density of the crowd in a specific zone at the current moment.

Safe tourism in Belgium: a priority

At the moment, it is possible to find museums, attractions, parks, accommodation and monuments in Flanders on the map. VISITFLANDERS is also planning on adding cycling and walking routes on a later stage. Companies and organizations can change the information about their business and attractions at any time of the day and provide updates on the number of visitors, the duration of waiting times, the average time per visit and measures per attraction. Support measures for the entire tourism sector can also be found quickly on the application. Visitors themselves can verify the live crowds during their visits and adjust the rush indicator if necessary.

"During my holiday this summer I will walk and cycle from Leut in the province of Limburg to Lampernisse in the province of West Flanders," says Flemish Minister of Tourism Zuhal Demir. "During that trip I will of course be able to use the YouFlanders app of VISITFLANDERS very well. You'll find accommodation, museums, attractions, walking and cycling paths, but thanks to the heatmaps in the app I also know where it's busy or less busy. Very simple: red is busy, yellow less. So for a pleasant holiday trip along Flemish roads, the YouFlanders app is just as indispensable as a mouth mask and sanitizer".

A total of 2,700 points of interests, destinations, will be added to the application. If a visitor is within a radius of 500 meters, he can update the rush indicator in just a few clicks. The crowd of that time is compared with the attendance history since June 15, 2020, right after the lockdown.

The sources for the analyses are issued from anonymous traffic data from the Orange Belgium network. These data are aggregated via specific algorithms and translated in different color coding (from red=busy to green=calm) in order to be able to comply with the regulations on the protection of personal data.

People interested in the app can download it via www.youflanders.be.