20,177,486 overnight stays have been booked in Belgium in 2020. That is 53% less than in 2019. This is what emerged from the new annual figures about tourist arrivals and overnight stays in Belgium from Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. Figures are published at the level of Belgium, regions and provinces[1]. These tables also show the countries of origin and the type of accommodation (hotel, holiday park, holiday home, etc.). In the Brussels-Capital Region, the decrease was the greatest with a 76% decline compared to 2019. The Walloon Region registered a decrease of 41%. The Flemish Region registered a decrease of 50%.
Number of overnight stays per region (2015-2020)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 38,380,415 | 36,855,214 | 38,677,308 | 41,320,284 | 42,512,847 | 20,177,486 |
| Brussels-Capital Region | 6,443,213 | 5,210,495 | 6,335,177 | 6,993,061 | 7,428,718 | 1,782,873 |
| Flemish Region | 24,379,810 | 23,894,894 | 24,511,335 | 26,126,619 | 26,356,863 | 13,276,415 |
| Walloon Region | 7,557,392 | 7,749,825 | 7,830,796 | 8,200,604 | 8,727,266 | 5,118,198 |
In every province, the number of overnight stays decreased. The province of Luxembourg experienced the smallest decrease (-34%).
Number of overnight stays per province (2015-2020)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of Antwerp | 4,204,366 | 4,241,787 | 4,333,706 | 4,864,460 | 4,912,144 | 2,056,957 |
| Province of Limburg | 4,065,090 | 4,142,265 | 4,105,887 | 4,330,127 | 4,413,067 | 2,406,418 |
| Province of East Flanders | 2,110,766 | 2,015,947 | 2,264,035 | 2,454,113 | 2,565,512 | 1,164,263 |
| Province of Flemish Brabant | 2,017,825 | 1,843,751 | 2,030,847 | 2,295,796 | 2,348,709 | 805,360 |
| Province of West Flanders | 11,981,763 | 11,651,144 | 11,776,860 | 12,182,123 | 12,117,431 | 6,843,417 |
| Province of Walloon Brabant | 463,620 | 429,537 | 479,080 | 488,009 | 507,424 | 196,377 |
| Province of Hainaut | 1,119,235 | 1,183,443 | 1,225,305 | 1,296,905 | 1,337,620 | 677,447 |
| Province of Liège | 2,206,057 | 2,341,931 | 2,412,971 | 2,468,194 | 2,590,225 | 1,553,652 |
| Province of Luxembourg | 2,528,170 | 2,565,695 | 2,417,871 | 2,733,464 | 2,881,127 | 1,902,634 |
| Province of Namur | 1,240,310 | 1,229,219 | 1,295,569 | 1,214,032 | 1,410,870 | 788,088 |
The hotels were the most impacted by the pandemic with an occupancy decrease of 63%. The other most affected sectors are holiday parks (-56%) and youth hostels and youth accommodation centres (-54%). Camping sites suffered the least from the pandemic with a drop of 27%.
Hotels remained the most popular accommodation category in 2020 with 38% of overnight stays, followed by gîtes, holiday homes and apartments[2] with 22%.
The disaffection of foreign tourists was more pronounced than the Belgian one with decreases of 69% and 36% respectively. While in 2019 one overnight stay in two was attributed to a foreign tourist, this has only been the case for less than a third of the overnight stays in 2020.
Distribution of the number of overnight stays according to the country of origin
Remarks
From 18 March 2020, all accommodations besides hotels were closed. In hotels, only overnight stays for non-tourist purposes were allowed. On 8 June 2020, all accommodations were allowed to reopen, also for tourist overnight stays.
Holiday parks and camping sites had to close from 3 November to 7 February. Hotels and B&Bs could stay open, but restaurants and bars had to close. Meals had to be taken in the room.
[1] From 2019 onwards, Statbel no longer publishes municipal figures. For figures at a more detailed level than the provinces, please contact: Toerisme Vlaanderen, Commissariat général au Tourisme of BISA.
[2] The figures for this category are based on a sample selected at provincial level, except for the coast, where figures are provided by real estate agencies.