Public-Private cooperation in the Butchers’ Hall.
About this good practice
East Flanders is a province famous for its large number of regional products. The city of Ghent is known for his historical centre that attracts many tourists. The focus is to combine these two strong elements in one sustainable project.
The presentation will highlight the creation of the Promotional centre for regional products, called the Butchers’ Hall. This unique cooperation between public partners (Province, Economic Council and Touristic Board of East Flanders, city of Ghent, and private companies (producers of regional products) is an example of successful and ongoing public-private cooperation.
Focus will also be given on the impact of this centre on tourism and recreation in the province of East-Flanders and Ghent particularly.
The objectives are:
1. Promoting the East Flemish regional products
2. Supporting the East Flemish economy by storytelling (regional products, historical building and function, touristic centre)
3. Give consumers and tourists a unique experience in a historical setting
The main stakeholders and beneficiaries of the practice are the producers of local products and our visitors.
Expert opinion
Through this practice local produce growers and producers are brought together to one promotional centre. It is a public-private partnership that enables to collectively increase the visibility of local gastronomy. A key element here is for the public authority to be a neutral mediator and facilitator that can promote all the SMEs as part of one collective tourism value offer. The coordination by the public body is needed in order to overcome the hurdles of local competition and instead see the bigger picture of how all local producers can benefit by cooperating within the centre.
Resources needed
Human resources :Staff in the centre and marketing and administration team
Financial resources : 125.000 euros/year
Evidence of success
We measure the financial results (turnover) but also impact and imagebuilding (reviews on Facebook, Google, Instagram, Tripadvisor etc.)
Each year more than 80.000 people consume in the promotional centre. The annual turnover is more than 1.000.000 euro. Consumer surveys show us that the visitors are really enthusiastic about the local products.
Potential for learning or transfer
Regions interested in stimulating economic and tourism development through regional products, could learn from this good practice.
As a public government institution, your main asset is ‘neutrality’. With a non-profit attitude, you can bring together different producers. In that way, there is promotion made for all the local food products in a region, with a big impact on the positive image of the local food sector and gastronomy.
As the promotion centre realises an own turnover to cover the costs, the budget needed is only 125.000 euro/year. This includes the staff costs for five employees. Producers are really happy with the concept because of the positive effect on their image and the extra turnover they get by selling their products in the promotion centre.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Economic Council of East Flanders