Tourism figures 2018

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Tourism figures 2018

STATBEL, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the annual figures about tourist arrivals and overnight stays in Belgium in 2018. These figures are published at the level of Belgium, regions, provinces, tourist regions and municipalities. These tables also show the countries of origin and the type of accommodation (hotel, holiday park, holiday home, etc.).

41,320,284 overnight stays have been booked in Belgium in 2018. That is 7 % more than in 2017.

The Brussels-Capital Region registers the sharpest increase, with 10 % more overnight stays than in 2017.

The Flemish Region registers in 2018 a 7 % increase compared to 2017. The number of overnight stays has also increased in the Walloon Region, by 5 %.

Overnight stays by region (2015-2018)

  2015 2016 2017 2018
Belgium 38,380,415 36,855,214 38,677,308 41,320,284
Flemish Region 24,379,810 23,894,894 24,511,335 26,126,619
Walloon Region 7,557,392 7,749,825 7,830,796 8,200,604
Brussels-Capital Region 6,443,213 5,210,495 6,335,177 6,993,061

Half of the overnight stays in Belgium were booked in a hotel (49 %), followed by holiday homes[1] (16 %), holiday parks (13 %) and youth hostels (10 %). These proportions are practically the same as those of 2017.

tourtype2018_en

Figures on the countries of origin of the people who booked these overnight stays are also collected:

  • 50 % of overnight stays in Belgium were booked by Belgians in 2018.
  • 49 % of overnight stays were booked by travellers from the Netherlands (12 %), France (7 %), Germany (6 %), the United Kingdom (5 %), Spain (2 %), the United States (2 %), and Italy (1 %), among others. For the remaining 1 %, the country of origin is undetermined.
  • However, there are major differences among tourist regions, provinces and regions regarding 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.