Coast satisfied with very first May holiday

During the May holidays, a total of approximately 750,000 day tourists and 1.2 million tourist overnight stays were recorded. The sum of the Easter holidays and May holidays is also evaluated positively, with as many overnight stays by French-speaking Belgians as in 2022. De Kust is looking forward to the coming extended weekends.

Sabien Lahaye-Battheu, deputy and chairman of Westtoer: “In recent years, the Coast has developed more and more into a destination for the four seasons. Two thirds of the tourism turnover is realized outside the summer season. The Coast also remains a favorite destination during the spring. Westtoer and the tourism sector are discussing the various aspects of the new holiday spread,” says Sabien Lahaye-Battheu, deputy and chairman of Westtoer.

increase of 50%

The total of tourist overnight stays on the Coast is estimated at 1.2 million for the past two weeks, an increase of approximately 50 percent compared to the same period in 2022. The increase is mainly among French-speaking Belgians. The number of tourist overnight stays by Flemings and foreigners also rose slightly, partly due to the extended weekend of 1 May. In the past two weeks, many Dutch people also traveled to the coast.

The balance between the two-week Easter holiday and the two-week May holiday is positive: despite the lack of a period of stable and beautiful spring weather, the Coast recorded 2.6 million tourist overnight stays. This is a status quo compared to Easter holidays and the first two weeks of May 2022 (both among the Flemish and the French-speaking Belgians). During these two holidays, the Coast attracted approximately 1.8 million day tourists, a slight decrease of 5 percent compared to the same period in 2022.