Third cities

I was thinking about third cities last week. A Ghent job had just received the green light and I was digging around for potential interviewees online. The most recent travel piece I found was seven years old. It made me wonder why some destinations land in the media and others don’t.

Coincidentally, the Telegraph was thinking along similar lines. A round-up whizzed through under-rated destinations like Hamburg, Braga and, yes, Ghent. I’d contest some entries – I doubt even residents consider Trieste to be Italy’s third best city – but skimming through the list it crossed my mind this could be the moment for the third city.

Overtourism remains a hot-button issue even if the headlines have moved on. As we enter peak holiday season around 35,000 flights a day will take off across Europe. It can feel like they’ve all landed in Venice, Dubrovnik or Rome. That’s why the Eternal City bit the bullet and introduced tickets for the Trevi fountain in February. All that before we get to the carnage from EES at gateway airports.

Travel media covers the big-hitters regardless because they perform consistently well with readers. Yet it prefers a “Little place I know” story on somewhere brilliant yet under the radar. Such piecesoffer the conceit of sharing a secret, of being ahead of the curve. So perhaps the trick is how such destinations are framed.

Without the cachet of fame, a standard pitch for third cities is as “The new…”. Although I get why, the formula is so cliched it may be damaging. Ghent may be the new Bruges but that pitch will probably generate a sceptically raised eyebrow at best. Anyway, if you wanted Bruges you’d go to Bruges.

In my experience what every great third city shares – and what makes them stories – is a period of vaunting affluence, a long period of decline and new optimism or eccentricity. Tick, tick, tick for Ghent, a medieval city with the canals and cobbles of Bruges, where the creative and food scenes are flourishing thanks to affordable rents and a booming tech sector. That provides the bone structure for a piece (interviewees, colour description etc). Now it requires a topical focus – in this case, a handsome new independent hotel that aligns with the destination’s offer.

Find that hook, back up why a destination is having a moment and I expect you’ll be pushing at an open door.