Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the results of the travel survey carried out in 2019 as well as a first provisional estimate of the travels in the 1st quarter 2020.

This provisional estimate shows that the Belgian population seems to have travelled more at the beginning of 2020 than in 2019, until mid-March and the beginning of the lockdown measures due to the Covid-19 crisis. In particular, the winter holidays, which took place in the second half of February, were at least as successful as those of 2019, which took place in the first half of March.

The number of travels made by the Belgian population from 1 January to 14 March 2020 is estimated at just over 3 million, or 14% more than a year earlier over the same period.

Belgians made 23 million trips in 2019

In 2019, the Belgian population made almost 23 million trips. 40 % of these trips lasted one to three nights and 60 % four nights or more.

11 % of shorter trips had a professional purpose, compared to only 4 % for longer trips.

The travel survey

^[1] focuses on all trips made, irrespective of the duration, destination and purpose (private or professional). A representative sample of the population is interviewed each quarter about its trips. This survey is harmonised at European level (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/tourism/overview).

The two most popular destinations: France and Belgium

Business travel aside, the Belgian population made 21 million trips for holidays. Belgium is the first destination (42 %) for short stays from one to three nights, followed by France (18 %) and the Netherlands (16 %).

For holidays of four nights or more, France is the preferred destination (23 %), followed by Belgium (13%) and Spain (12%).

While almost all short trips (98 %) are to an EU country, this proportion amounts to 83 % when looking at longer trips.

Vacation departures are most numerous in July (4 million), with August accounting for 2.9 million.

The accommodation varies according to the destination

In 35 % of the cases, holidays of four nights or more take place in a hotel. 29 % take place in a holiday rental and 20 % in an accommodation provided without charge by relatives or friends. However, this varies greatly depending on the country of destination. When Belgians go to France for four nights or more, they prefer the holiday rental (39 %). The same is true when they stay in Belgium (37 %). However, 52 % of holidays in Italy and 49 % of those in Spain are spent in a hotel.

Finally, 61 % of trips for holidays of four nights or more in the European Union are made by car, 30 % by airplane and 9 % via another means of transport.

^[1] In 2017, a new methodology was developed in order to improve the quality of the results.