New Campaign Celebrates All the US Has Received “Via Antwerp.”

20 July 2013
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A new Antwerp tourism campaign, created by Green Team, promotes the cultural contributions of the city, and the opening of the Red Star Line Museum.

New York, NY – What do Albert Einstein, Irving Berlin, Golda Meir, legendary beers, experimental cuisine and dynamic art, architecture and fashion have in common? They all came to the United States via Antwerp.

That’s the message being trumpeted in a new tourism campaign from Belgian Tourist Office Flanders-Brussels (Visit Flanders), Antwerp Tourism and the Red Star Line Museum.

The campaign, created by Green Team, points out how many elements of American culture--both past and present--have their origins in Antwerp, Europe’s second largest port city.

Much of that is due to the ships of the Red Star Line. Between 1873 and 1934, over 2 million Europeans emigrated to the US aboard Red Star Line ships, which departed out of Antwerp. Their stories are being brought to life at the new Red Star Line Museum, scheduled to open in Antwerp, Belgium, on September 28, 2013.

“The Via Antwerp campaign not only tells the stories of the passengers who travelled on board the Red Star Line ships via Antwerp,” says Geri Jacobs, Director North America of Visit Flanders, “it also highlights all the great things that are still here, confirming Antwerp’s stature as a cosmopolitan and open-minded city with a rich past, a vibrant present and an international outlook.”

The campaign will run in online banners nationally, and in New York City out-of-home (subway two-sheets and urban panels) were posted on or around July 3. A campaign microsite provides a deeper explanation of the Red Star Line Museum and other Antwerp attractions, and allows users to enter a sweepstakes to win a free trip to Antwerp for the museum grand opening in September.

“It’s really quite amazing how many things we enjoy in the US today have come to us via Antwerp,” says Green Team President Hugh Hough. “This campaign is a celebration of rich cultural influences, both past and present.”

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