Pokémon Go gives tourism boost to forgotten Flemish town

Since the terrorist attacks in March, tourist offices have been struggling to persuade people to come to Flanders. Even picturesque Bruges, one of the safest cities in Europe, has been hit by a slump. But it seems there is one sure way of getting tourists back to your town.

Just look at what happened a few days ago in one tiny town. "Never seen so many people in Lillo", ran the headline in Het Laatste Nieuws.

No one knew what was happening at first. It was a rainy Monday morning in this far north district of Antwerp, when suddenly mobs of young people arrived waving around their smartphones. Weather or no weather – no one could keep the Pokémon hunters out of Lillo.

So what is this Pokémon craze all about? Pokémon Go is a game you play on your smartphone, the newspaper explained, inspired by the insanely popular animated film series from 1996, which involves groups of young people hunting for Pokémon. The aim is to catch as many of them as you can.

Although the Pokémon characters appear only on your phone, they only appear when you “find” them in real-life places. The hunt for Pokémon characters like Rattata and Wartortle has already taken fans to some strange places in Flanders, like the abandoned and forgotten Lillo, one of the villages eaten up by the expansion of the port of Antwerp.

The tiny harbour town of Lillo has been mobbed for the past few weeks because a number of Pokémons have shown up there. Thousands of people are now passing this way every day, said one happy pub owner: "Normally this village of seven streets and 35 residents is dead – but now people are queuing up for a parking place."

Not that local businesses are complaining: "And a good thing, too, because food and drink establishments are definitely feeling the benefit."

Thousands of people are now passing this way every day, one happy pub owner told the newspaper. "We’re used to getting some tourists – but we’ve never seen anything like this. We can hardly cope."

And it’s good not just for business. The Pokémon craze is credited with getting people out of the house. Even on a rainy Belgian day.

It was torrential rain the whole day – no one thought anyone would leave the house, but no, Pokémon hunters were everywhere tucked under their umbrellas. Those little characters with funny names might have arrived at the right time to save the Flemish tourist industry.

Photo courtesy polderke.com