Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the annual figures about tourist arrivals and overnight stays in Belgium in 2017. These figures are published at the level of Belgium, regions, provinces, tourist regions and municipalities. These tables show the countries of origin and the type of accommodation (hotel, holiday park, holiday home, etc.).
38,677,308 overnight stays have been booked in 2017. This is an increase of 5 % compared to 2016 and of 1 % compared to 2015.
The Brussels-Capital Region registers the sharpest increase, with 22 % more overnight stays compared to 2016. Compared to 2015, there is a decrease of 2 %.
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In 2017, the Flemish Region saw an increase of 3 % compared to 2016. In the Walloon Region, the number of overnight stays increased by 1 %.
When interpreting the monthly figures, however, account must be taken of the fact that school holidays do not fall each year during the same months.
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Half of the overnight stays in Belgium were booked in a hotel (49 %), followed by holiday homes[1] (16 %), holiday parks (14 %) and youth hostels (11 %). These proportions are practically the same as those of 2016.
Figures are collected on the countries of origin of the people who booked these overnight stays:
- 52 % of overnight stays in Belgium were booked by Belgians in 2017.
- 47 % of overnight stays were booked by travellers from the Netherlands (13 %), France (7 %), Germany (6 %), the United Kingdom (5 %), Spain (2 %), the United States (2 %), and Italy (1 %). For the remaining 1 % of overnight stays the country of origin is undetermined.
- However, there are major differences among tourist regions, provinces and regions as regards the proportions of Belgians and foreigners as well as the country of origin. You will find all the information in the published tables.
[1] The figures about holiday homes are based on a sample.