Cologne Tourist Board taking part in EU-funded project to promote creative urban tourism in NRW.Focus on Cologne’s creative scene and raising its international profile
Synergy effect for central theme #urbanCGN – cologne urban lifestyle. Cologne Tourist Board will today be presenting the new urban tourism project, #urbanana, at a roadshow with its partners Tourismus NRW, Düsseldorf and the Ruhr Metropolis. As the “Passagen” Interior Design Week kicks off, representatives of the tourism and creative industries will take part in a panel discussion in Cologne’s Barthonia Forum to showcase the ERDF-funded project. #urbanana is scheduled to run until 2020 and aims to promote the growing creative urban tourism segment.
Including the destinations’ own investments and the sum awarded through the “Erlebnis.NRW” competition, #urbanana has funding totalling 1.2 billion euros. The key areas it focuses on are festivals, design, traditional and urban arts, music culture, the digital scene and fashion – most of which are also covered in the content that Cologne Tourist Board is currently producing and spreading through #urbanCGN.
“We’re convinced that, with our partners, we can make this pioneering project profitable for Cologne and the other city break destinations in North Rhine-Westphalia within the next three years. The topics are largely the same as those we’re focusing on in our 2016/2017 central theme, #urbanCGN – cologne urban lifestyle, which will also take that project to a higher level”, said Josef Sommer, CEO of Cologne Tourist Board. “Cologne is rich in trendsetting scenes and offers the self-sufficient, well-informed traveller a host of opportunities to discover new things and interact with creatives. We’re looking to draw on that wealth to increase international awareness of Cologne as a great place to visit.”

#urbanCGN – cologne urban lifestyle
The tourism board’s current central theme, launched in 2016, is designed to reflect the trend that individual travellers are increasingly becoming “temporary citizens” and like to explore the city and the local creative scene independently. Cologne Tourist Board primarily addresses this target group online, through a dedicated blog entitled www.visit.koeln and via social media. New videos have also been produced as part of the project, the most recent one being “Vibe of Cologne”. In addition, content has been created for #urbanCGN in collaboration with selected influencers from other European countries. Further projects with Cologne’s creative community are planned for 2017.

Cologne Tourist Board is the official tourism organization of the city of Cologne and thus the first point of contact for visitors from all over the world, whether they’re coming here on business or to spend their leisure time. Together with its partners, Cologne Tourist Board conducts marketing activities all over the world for Cologne as a travel destination and a convention venue. Its aim is to enhance the city’s image and to position Cologne and its surrounding region as an attractive tourist destination and an outstanding convention location in the German and international markets. In the process, it aims to boost added value for the economy of Cologne and the surrounding region.