Belgium
Welcome to Charleroi: Tourism trebles in the world's ugliest town
Marooned in a sea of slagheaps, derelict factories and litter-strewn wasteland, the Belgian city of Charleroi is one of Europe's most unlikely tourist destinations.
The grim former coal-mining community is best known in Belgium for having the highest suicide and unemployment rates in the country.
The southern blackspot is even warning it will become more run-down in the current global financial crisis – having never really recovered from the previous two recessions.
But now, following a poll voting it the world's ugliest city, it is suddenly teeming with visitors willing to pay to see for themselves how relentlessly bleak Charleroi really is.
Several businesses have sprung up since the survey, carried out in neighbouring Holland, offering "urban safaris" around some of the city's drabbest "attractions".
Tourists on the guided tours can climb a slagheap, inspect acres of post-industrial wasteland and visit the now demolished home of notorious child killer Marc Dutroux.
They can also see the apartment block of one of Charleroi's other notorious former residents – the world's first white female suicide bomber Muriel Degauque, who blew herself up in Baghdad in 2005, after marrying an Islamic radical.
One tour operator, Nicolas Buissart bragged that trips around the town – whose airport is a hub for low-cost airline Ryanair – were fully booked for the next two months.
He said: "Visitors are genuinely appalled at the true hideousness of our town. Even as they fly in, they are shocked at the landscape of filth, slagheaps and wasteland.
"It looks like the very worst of the Russian communist era. It is a truly grim spectacle to behold.
"We take people around in a fairly decrepit old coach, visiting all the ugliest places – but the choice is actually endless because so little of the town has anything to offer.
"Hopefully it makes visitors leaving feeling lucky about where they live themselves."
Even locals complain socialist-run Charleroi, with a population of 200,000, is "a complete dump".
Shopkeeper Stephan Reignier said: "It is a monstrosity. The whole place should be bulldozed and rebuilt from scratch."
In an attempt at positive spin smacking of desperation, the regional tourism website could only say of the city: "Charleroi has fun and does not take itself seriously."
Since Mr Buissart began tours of his home town, other rival firms have now set up and tourism had tripled in the past three months, Charleroi's town hall said.
A spokesman added: "It is not really anything to boast about, but in the short term a huge boost in tourist revenue could help fund some very badly needed regeneration of our town."
Comments
Charleroi has an attractive town centre. Also, slagheap "Les Piges" has trees and vegetation on it now, and can be made into a small mountain park. The best thing Charleroi can do is continue seriously building and opening their planned 8 lines and loop of light metro! They have the rolling stock, and everyone loves a tram ride, especially Americans, who have so little rail transit themselves in most of the USA. The first effort should be to get the Chatelet Line open to Centenaire, since it is built already; also, restore service ASAP to Gosselies; it used to run packed with people every 10 minutes! Also run all lines until midnight 7 days per week. Next, build the properly planned metro connection line from Waterloo metro station to the existing Gosselies line. Then add the branch to the airport, or at least bus rapid transit from Sud and West railway stations to the Charleroi airport.
Then, finish building and open the Chatelet Line as far as Trieux, south of Cora hypermarket, leaving the possibility to continue it to Chatelet Railway Station later.
Next, build and open the planned lines SW and SE from Charleroi Sud. If there is not enough funding for subways, then build short underpasses near the station, then run the lines as surface tramways along the roads in that area. Also, if possible, bring back the delightful and touristic line from Anderlues to Lobbes and Thuin with full-time, regular service. This could operate with an easy transfer from the Charleroi Metro west line 88/89 at Anderlues. The tourists would adore it!! Restoring the surface tram line from Gosselies to La Louviere would also be quite well ridden and popular with the tourists. It's a shame that line 90 via Binche to La Louviere was removed and destroyed; I fortunately had the supreme pleasure to ride it before it was closed down.
In any event, the light metro is the best possible tourist attraction in the short term, especially giving priority to the Chatelet line as far as Centenaire, and the line to Gosselies, as well as the extension to Soleilmont.
The other thing to do is to plant trees, grass and other plants and put rich topsoil on the slagheaps, as this way, they can be turned into parks and other greenspaces which in time will become attractive rather than ugly. Charleroi has so many golden opportunities, it should never give up on attracting tourism.
If the Chatelet line can be completed all the way to the centre of Chatelet, this will give both cities the opportunity to promote tourism together; so that should be the next priority for the light metro. Tramways in their own protected paths can be such a wonderful tourist attraction.
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