Cologne – part of the #urbanana family of cities

COLOGNE, January 16, 2017

• 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.”