Leuven (or Louvain) is the only place in Belgium nominated for the ‘European Best Destination‘ poll. 

This poll is organised by EuropeanBestDestinations.com, a website dedicated to tourism in Europe. It cooperates with the European Commission‘s EDEN Network. 

Twenty destinations selected on the basis of their cultural and touristic offer as well as their quality of life and their sustainable development will be promoted to millions of travellers, media and tourism professionals among the best destinations to visit in Europe in 2022.

The nominees for 2022 are:

• The Amalfi Coast in Italy.
• Amiens in France.
• Athens in Greece.
• Bavaria in Germany.
• Clonakilty in Ireland.
• Crete in Greece.
• Graz in Austria.
• Istanbul in Turkey.
• Lahti Region in Finland.
• Leuven in Belgium.
• Ljubljana in Slovenia.
• London in the United Kingdom.
• Lucerne in Switzerland.
• Marbella in Spain.
• Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
• Oradea in Romania.
• Plovdiv in Bulgaria.
• Prague in Czechia.
• Rome in Italy.
• Vienna in Austria.

You can vote here.

The EDEN Network

The EDEN initiative rewards and promotes sustainable tourism practices in smaller tourist destinations.

Since 2007, the European Commission has supported European Union member states in rewarding non-traditional, emerging sustainable tourism destinations in Europe through the EDEN award. The initiative aimed to foster sustainable tourism destination management models across Europe by selecting and promoting EDEN destinations.

The EU Green Deal, our commitment to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, and the focus on circular economies, will drive changes in the tourism industry. The ecosystem will need to change how it operates, including how destinations are managed, to deliver sustainable and quality experience to visitors.

We modified EDEN for position winning destinations to stand out as tourism sustainability pioneers, committed to European Green Deal objectives and seeking to inspire other European tourism destinations in their green transition practices.

The EDEN initiative aims to

• showcase the best achievements in sustainable tourism and green transition practices across smaller European destinations;
• promote the development of sustainable tourism in destinations, bringing value to the economy, the planet and the people;
• establish a framework for participating destinations to exchange best practices and create opportunities for cooperation and new partnerships.

Each year, the EDEN competition will name one ‘European Destination of Excellence’, an accolade that will signal a destination’s forward-thinking approach and identify them as a sustainable tourism pioneer. 

Destinations in EU countries and COSME countries with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 inhabitants are eligible to apply. 

Middelfart in Denmark, Bordeaux in France and Valencia in Spain were selected as the 2022 European Destination of Excellence.