Hasselt is flourishing. Residents are reaping the rewards of a firmly-rooted tourism policy.

Transversal and integral
In the 2025 strategic plan tourism is the key tool to significantly enhance the attractiveness of the city for residents and visitors, for entrepreneurs and creative makers, and for students and researchers. Because this requires close cooperation between urban services and between the city and numerous stakeholders, a sophisticated transversal strategic vision was linked to an integral action plan in which ambitions and responsibilities became generally accepted elements within the urban ecosystem.

Creating added value the Hasselt way
The city of Hasselt has opted for a tourism strategy in which the creation of added value is a central objective. The strategic plan is based on the city’s singularity and conveys a strong awareness of its role as the capital of the province of Limburg. By strategically focusing on sustainable and well-rooted destination development, the city will place greater emphasis on the way in which Hasselt is growing as a destination and how it functions as a lever for tourism in Limburg.

Growth model
IDEA defined three development paths that are intertwined, but that always start from a different position: (1) Hasselt as a leisure destination, (2) Hasselt as a base for visiting the region and (3) Hasselt as a MICE destination. Each of the development paths contains the seeds for destination management and marketing. The three development paths are intertwined and set out numerous development paths to enable the city to flourish as a tourist destination.

Balance
The strategic plan helps the city develop its tourism credentials together with residents and entrepreneurs and offers sufficient scope for cooperation, initiative-taking and experimenting. Involving residents in the development of the city as a tourism destination contributes to the creation of a sense of community and simultaneously brings about a well- balanced tourism policy.