The Islands of Guernsey to join the liberation route europe
VisitGuernsey has led on a combined Channel Islands’ membership of international remembrance trail, ‘The Liberation Route Europe’.
29 January 2020
The Liberation Route was formed in 2008 with the objective of sharing WWII knowledge and stories with the general public, to commemorate, educate and reflect on the historical events of WWII.
With points of interest spanning nine countries, including France, the Netherlands and the UK, featuring famous WWII points of interest such as the Normandy Landings beaches and memorials, the Route has a strong following from ‘remembrance’ tourists living in Europe, the UK and also in Canada and the USA.
Visitors follow the Route digitally via a dedicated consumer website and a mobile phone application. Via the App, visitors use geolocations to navigate to various points of interest along the Route, and are then presented with written, pictorial, audio and video histories of the location in question and its role in the liberation of Europe during WWII.
15 liberation-oriented points of interest have been selected for the Islands of Guernsey’s section of the Route, including locations in Herm, Sark and Alderney. Sites include Castle Cornet, the White Rock Pier, L’Ancresse and Creux Harbour, along with museums such as the German Occupation Museum and Alderney Museum. Stops on the Route will be visible to the public through the use of Liberation Route ‘Vectors of Memory’ – metal wall and floor vector emblems - to be accompanied by a short overview of the location.
Mike Hopkins, Director of Marketing & Tourism, commented:
“After over two years of hard work by the VisitGuernsey team, we are delighted that the Islands of Guernsey have been accepted for membership of The Liberation Route Europe. This allows us to showcase the Islands’ unique occupation and liberation history to almost 400,000 Liberation Route website visitors and 28,000 social and App followers, all with an interest in WWII remembrance tourism. We also look forward to establishing new relationships with specialist European and North American tour operators via this prestigious network”.
Mike Hopkins
Helen Glencross, Acting Head of Heritage Services, added:
“Membership of the Liberation Route brings access to an international network of almost 300 members and partners, who are WWII heritage professionals. This presents a great opportunity for both the Heritage Services team and industry stakeholders to share knowledge, stories and best practice with like-minded individuals, for the support and preservation of our Islands’ WWII heritage”.
Helen Glencross
Rémi Praud, Managing Director – Liberation Route Europe said:
“We are delighted to welcome The Islands of Guernsey and the Channels Islands as members of the Liberation Route Europe, and to include such interesting and unique stories and remembrance sites to our route. We are looking forward to cooperating with our new partners and together keeping the memory of the war alive, especially for the young generations”.
Rémi Praud
You can see the list of points of interest in The Islands of Guernsey here, or head to the Liberation Route website for full details and description of each location.
The Islands of Guernsey’s membership of the Route was launched at the Liberation Route Europe Annual Conference in Brussels on the 4th February.
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