European Route of Historic Thermal Towns wins award for its “Thermal Travels” campaign

Last Friday, at the 11th Annual Advisory Forum of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in Chania, Crete, the European Route of Historic Thermal Towns received the “Best Practices Award 2022” for its “Thermal Travels” promotion campaign.

The Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) has recognised best practices implemented by certified routes, which have been drawing attention to the priority fields of action of the programme, one of them being the promotion of Europe’s shared cultural heritage.

In the early summer the European Route of Historic Thermal Towns ran an online awareness-raising and promotional campaign with the motto “Thermal Travels – Immerse yourself in the spa culture of Europe” in central European countries and North America. The campaign was co-funded by the European Travel Commission and put this Cultural Route in the spotlight, inviting people to discover the spa towns in Europe as a transnational tourism product and as part of visiteurope’s approach of “inviting the curious." 

“I would like to thank the Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes for this prestigious award”, said EHTTA President Manuel Baltar, “I am proud of the fact that the Historic Thermal Towns have received this prestigious award for a second time. The story of the historic thermal towns of Europe is woven into the story of Europe and its people. It is part of Europe’s shared memory, culture and traditions, and as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe its cultural heritage is recognised and celebrated. We are working on raising the awareness for this, in Europe and abroad and this is why we truly appreciated the opportunity to co-operate with the European Travel Commission for the first time,” he explains.

The range of activities in the framework of the Thermal Travels campaign included a collaboration with FITReisen, a leading tour operator in health travel, who promoted the historic thermal towns on its German-speaking and French-speaking website and channels.

Three writers and influencers from the US visited France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Greece, with impressive outcomes: resulting in online articles on vogue.com, various newspaper and travel platforms, plus the reach of the influencers focused on wellbeing and spa travel.

“This campaign let us target people interested in cultural travel, with an interest to discover smaller, less known destinations and surprise them. Travellers who look for quality rather than quantity, demanding authentic experiences throughout their trip – from accommodation to gastronomy and excursions – have been addressed with an additional aspect: the one of wellbeing and health-related travel” explained Simone Zagrodnik, EHTTA Executive Director.

The Thermal Travels Campaign of the European Route of Historic Thermal Towns was also supported by the Great Spa Towns of Europe, a UNESCO world heritage site since 2021. All eleven towns united in this prestigious group are also members of the European Route of Historic Thermal Towns.