Face-to-Face tasks for the module “Off-site Services” Webquest Introduction Information about the country Belgium, located in the north-western Europe, is one of the smallest and most densely populated European countries. It has flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, and rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast. Since its independence in 1830 it has been a representative democracy headed by a hereditary constitutional monarch. Initially, Belgium had a unitary form of government. In the 1980s and ’90s, however, steps were taken to turn Belgium into a federal state with powers shared among the regions of Flanders, Wallonia, and the Brussels-Capital Region. Culturally, Belgium is a heterogeneous country straddling the border between the Romance and Germanic language families of Western Europe. With the exception of a small German-speaking population in the eastern part of the country, Belgium is divided between French-speaking people, collectively called Walloons (approximately one-third of the total population), and Flemings, Flemish- (Dutch-) speaking people (more than one-half of the total population). Belgium today is one of the most heavily industrialized and urbanized countries in Europe. 97.9% of the population is urban. Its capital Brussels, with approximately one-tenth of the total population, is a bilingual but majority French-speaking region. With the population of 2.045 million, Brussels is the largest city of Belgium. Belgium is a member of the Benelux Economic Union (with the Netherlands and Luxembourg), the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Brussels is home to numerous international organizations, including the EU and NATO. Source: - Materné, J.M.J., Doucy, A.J.M., Murphy, A.B., Van Molle, L., Lamberts, E.L., Van der Wee, H.F.A. (2016). Belgium. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Belgium [10.03.2017] - The World Factbook. (2017). Europe: Belgium. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/be.html [10.03.2017] Information about the hotel You work at a design hotel located in the city centre of Brussels, within a walking distance from the central railway station Bruxelles-Central. Your hotel is small but you are proud of offering quality services and catering for all your clients’ needs. This has resulted in repeat clientele and positive word-of-mouth, making the hotel popular among tourists from Europe and beyond. In order to provide individual touch to every client, the hotel policy is to learn their needs in advance and tailor an individual package for each client based on their needs. Information about the client Next week you are having a family staying with you for five days. Parents aged 42, and their two teenage kids – a son of 14 and a daughter of 12. They wish to spend two days in Brussels exploring as many cultural attractions as possible and 3 days outside Brussels doing day trips. Since they are on a holiday, they want to go out for meals and they are interested in using public transport and local trains/buses instead of hiring a car. They want to have a holiday with a difference, including various activities, such as, sightseeing, boating, cycling, climbing, horse riding, visiting historic and architectural sites, wandering in nature parks, etc. Their holiday budget for the activities and attractions, including the cost for meals and transport, is around 1000 EUR. Task Carefully study the needs of the client given above. Then split into groups of 3 and share your experiences when travelling with a family. Discuss the kind of possible activities and attractions that would be suitable for your client. Discuss what kind of information you have to search for. Consider the following: attractions in Brussels, public transport in Brussels, catering possibilities in Brussels, attractions outside Brussels, local transport and catering possibilities. Study the information available on different official travel websites and guidebooks and create a package suitable to your client. Create a list of ‘must do and see’ attractions and activities providing the main information on the attraction/activity, information on their opening times, costs, transportation options as well as catering possibilities. Arrange this information in an easy to perceive table format. Make a presentation of the package designed and present it to other student groups. Process First conduct a group discussion concerning the information that is relevant to fulfil the task. Then do the scoping search on official tourism websites of Belgium, Brussels, the cities/towns/villages you are including in the package as well as other websites providing information about catering and transport options. After having done the scoping search, discuss which sites/attractions you will recommend the client and create a list to be included in your final table. Afterwards, design your presentation and divide your roles of presenting. Resources Find your own resources, however, keep in mind that as a tourism professional you should always use official travel sites and portals. You may find the following official tourism and travel websites on Belgium useful: - http://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries/member-countries/belgium_en - https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/tourism - http://www.visitflanders.com/index.html - http://www.belgium-tourism.be/ The official travel portal of Brussels: https://visit.brussels/en You can always find useful information on Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g188634-Belgium-Vacations.html and on Loney Planet: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/belgium Conclusion You have done extensive research on the Internet and learnt much about geography, culture and the travel industry of Belgium. You will have experienced the difficulty of working on your own but also having to work in a group. In your groups you were required to make difficult decisions about which possibilities were optimal. Based on the research you conducted you have designed a tourism product – a holiday package for a specific client based on their individual needs. Thus you have developed professional skills that would be later useful when working in the tourism and hospitality industry or when designing travel packages for yourself, your friends and family. You have also developed presentation skills and have learnt how to persuade the audience while presenting the product you designed. Web Support Activity Websites and their use General information To learn about history, culture, tourism: http://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries/member- countries/belgium_en http://www.infoplease.com/country/belgium.html Information about the To research and select the sites and attractions for the list: most popular sites http://www.belgium-tourism.be/ and attractions in https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/tourism Belgium http://www.visitflanders.com/index.html https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g188634-Belgium- Vacations.html https://www.lonelyplanet.com/belgium http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-guides/belgium/ Information about To research and select the sites and attractions for the list: Brussels and the https://visit.brussels/en most popular http://www.minieurope.com/en/ attractions there http://atomium.be/ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/visiting/en/brussels/parlamentarium Transport in Belgium To find information on how to travel in Belgium and Brussels, about and Brussels the costs and where to buy a ticket: https://www.belgium.be/en/mobility/public_transport http://www.expatica.com/be/about/Belgium-transportation-Trains- metro-buses-and-taxis-in-Belgium_100109.html http://www.brussels.info/transport/ http://www.stib-mivb.be/plan_your_trip.html?l=en https://www.b-europe.com/EN/Stations/Brussels-Midi Catering To find information on the most popular restaurants in Belgium and Brussels: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g188634-Belgium.html https://cheeseweb.eu/2014/04/7-best-restaurants-belgium/ http://www.brussels.info/eating-out/ https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g188644-Brussels.html .