Belgians made 12.3 million trips in the third quarter 2025
In the third quarter 2025, Belgian residents made 12.3 million trips with at least one overnight stay. Of these, 3.7 million, or 29.7%, had a destination in Belgium. This is what emerged from the provisional results for the third quarter 2025 of the survey on holidays and travels conducted by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
3.7 million trips were made in Belgium
Of all trips, 3.7 million, or 29.7%, were to domestic destinations, mainly to the coast and the Ardennes.
The 8.7 million trips abroad break down as follows: the majority (7.2 million) were to another European Union country, 0.8 million were to a European country outside the EU, and 0.7 million were to a destination outside Europe.
The vast majority of trips are motivated by personal reasons
Almost all trips, i.e. 12.0 million or 97.2%, were made for personal reasons, such as tourism, visiting relatives or other private reasons. The number of business trips amounted to 0.3 million in the third quarter 2025.
In addition to trips involving at least one overnight stay, Belgians also made 2.3 million day trips abroad during this period.
Important note:
In 2025, the travel survey changed from a quarterly to a monthly collection. This methodological change significantly reduces respondents' recall bias and leads to an increase in the number of trips recorded, particularly for short stays. This results in a break in the series: the figures for 2025 are no longer directly comparable with those for previous years.
For more information: Modification of the travel survey in 2025
Number of travels by destination, duration and motif, 2024 (in milliers)
| Destination | Trips of 1 to 3 nights | Trips of 4 nights or more | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holidays | Professional trip | Total | Holidays | Professional trip | Total | |
| Total | 8,170 | 913 | 9,083 | 14,066 | 514 | 14,579 |
| European Union | 7,852 | 833 | 8,685 | 11,169 | 342 | 11,512 |
| Belgium | 3,807 | 178 | 3,986 | 1,728 | 34 | 1,762 |
| France | 1,636 | 209 | 1,846 | 3,703 | 86 | 3,789 |
| the Netherlands | 1,276 | 117 | 1,393 | 460 | 14 | 473 |
| Germany | 528 | 96 | 624 | 398 | 54 | 451 |
| Spain | 148 | 31 | 178 | 1,867 | 17 | 1,885 |
| Italia | 109 | 56 | 165 | 1,014 | 32 | 1,047 |
| Other EU | 347 | 145 | 493 | 1,999 | 104 | 2,104 |
| Other European countries | 272 | 62 | 334 | 860 | 49 | 908 |
| Africa | 22 | 6 | 27 | 752 | 41 | 792 |
| North-America | . | 4 | 4 | 222 | 38 | 259 |
| South-America | 9 | . | 9 | 195 | 4 | 199 |
| Asia + Oceania | 15 | 8 | 23 | 868 | 40 | 909 |
| Statbel (Direction générale Statistique - Statistics Belgium) | ||||||
Purpose and brief description
Travelling, whether domestic or international, for business or holiday, is becoming increasingly important in our way of life. This brochure presents the main results of a survey on the travel behaviour of Belgians. Travel habits have been followed since 1997 via a continuous quarterly survey amongst households. You will find here data regarding the duration and the motives of the trip, the destination, the accommodation type, the means of transport used and how the trip has been organised. The traveller's origin is also surveyed.
Population
Inhabitants in Belgium
Data collection method and sample size
Survey technique based on the use of paper questionnaires
Frequency
Annually.
Timing of publication
Results available 6 months after the reference period
Definitions
Number of trips: Trips of the inhabitants with at least one overnight stay. Day trips are also taken into account since 2014.
Duration of the trip: The duration of the trip is measured as the number of nights.
Purpose of the trip: There is only one main purpose for a trip, in the absence of which the trip would not have taken place. The Directive distinguishes two main reasons to travel:(i) business and professional; (ii) holidays, recreation and leisure. Holidays due to 'Visits to friends and relatives' should be included in point (ii).
Traveller: person who travels during the reporting period.
Low-skilled people are people who have at best a lower secondary education diploma. Medium-skilled people have obtained an upper secondary education diploma, but no higher education diploma. High-skilled people have a higher education diploma.