Tourism sector is gradually climbing out of the valley

Now that the peak of the most recent corona wave is more or less behind us, we see clear positive signs for the tourism sector. At the start of the spring break, we can already see that domestic overnight stays are up 42% compared to 2019. However, bookings by foreign tourists are still 24% lower.

Coast is most popular

In Flanders, the coast remains the mainstay. We already note a fifth more overnight stays there than during the spring break three years ago. When we look at the figures in detail, we see the number of domestic tourists on the coast rise by about 44 percent compared to 2019. The tourists from abroad are clearly holding off for a while. We can therefore observe a decrease of 33% compared to 2019. This brings the overall balance to an increase of 20% compared to the period before corona.

“Dark clouds have hung over our tourism sector for two years. But gradually the silver lining around it becomes visible. These figures confirm that we are climbing out of the valley step by step. We are not there yet, but it is a nice boost for the many tourist entrepreneurs in Flanders who have had a very difficult time and often still have,” says Flemish Tourism Minister Zuhal Demir.