10 percent fewer overnight stays on the coast during Easter weekend

The coast received 300,000 day tourists, which is about the same number of visitors as last year. The spring weather during the Easter weekend resulted in a lot of last minute reservations at hotels on the coast. In total, the number of overnight stays at the seaside came to 450,000. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, hotel occupancy by the sea rose to 85 percent.

Over the entire Easter weekend, the number of bookings was ten percent lower than in the Easter weekend last year. “Last year’s Easter weekend was really a top weekend with lots of sun and even more than 17 degrees Celsius on the coast,” says Westtoer chairman Sabien Lahaye-Battheu.

Not only the weather plays its role

Due to the new holiday regulations in French-speaking Belgium, the spring holiday there falls later than the Flemish Easter holiday, from 29 April to 14 May. “The fact that they have a later holiday certainly plays a role in the slightly lower occupancy figures. The new holiday arrangement ensures more spread on the coast, which is good. This means that more quality can be offered here. But it also creates challenges.” says Lahaye-Battheu. “The activities at the sea must be spread more widely and the catering industry must now also provide staff in May. This poses a challenge for the coastal municipalities and the catering sector.”