Flanders, Belgium, is promoting the 100th anniversary of the Great War at World Travel Market (WTM) 2012, the leading global event for the travel industry, with the aim of attracting up to 2 million tourists in 4 years.

The fields of Flanders, particularly around the town of Ypres, were the key battle ground fought over by the Allies and German soldiers from October 1914 practically until the end of the war in November 1918. It was later immortalised in the Canadian poem 'In Flanders Fields', written by John McCrae, have become a symbol for lives lost in war.

Up to 17 million people died during World War 1, including 10 million military personnel. A vast majority of those had died fighting in the trenches of Flanders.

The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres is being re-launched in June this year commemorating the dead and the 20 million wounded following a 3-year rebuild which has doubled it in size.

The museum also charts the history of the fields where poppies, now a symbol of peace and remembrance, abound and focuses on both the impact of the Great War, as well as the impact it had on millions of people's lives.

Tourism Flanders Project Leader of the Great War Centenary Veerle Viaene said, "Even if you are not a descendant of someone who fought here in Flanders, the area is still very moving for anyone who visits it, and visitors are fascinated by it."

"We want to tell the story on and behind the front; there are so many different stories of all the soldiers who had to fight and survive in the war and their women and children who stayed at home. We also want to look at the different ways it affected those fighting in the war, not just the historical and military impact, but the way it affected their mental health, too. We are also looking at the families who lived in the region before the war started and what they had to do to survive. We want to tell the little stories of people and the effect the fighting had on them, too."

Viaene added, the recent film, War Horse had again raised the interest in the World War. The autumn drama Parade's End, set partially on the war, is expected to further add to it.

Viaene hopes the 100th anniversary of the Great War will see 2 million tourists visit the Flanders Fields region during the 4-year period, considerably increasing the 350,000 visitors to the area each year at the moment.

Overall, Flanders is aiming to attract an extra 1 million tourists to the region in 2015, taking the total to 7 million people.

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