Number of overnight stays by foreign tourists in Flanders on the rise

The number of overnight stays by foreign tourists in Flanders has risen by 4 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, show figures released on Friday by Statistics Flanders. The number of overnight stays by Belgian tourists, on the other hand, fell by 2 percent.

In 2024, a total of 28.2 million tourist overnight stays were booked in the Flemish Region. That is almost 1 per cent more than in 2023. Compared to the pre-Covid year 2019, there were 7 per cent more overnight stays last year.

31 per cent of the overnight stays were booked by people from neighbouring countries. Mainly Dutch, but also many Germans and, to a lesser extent, French and British tourists went on holiday in Flanders. Four million overnight stays, or 14 per cent of the total, were booked by tourists coming from further away.

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Although the number of overnight stays by Belgian tourists decreased, Belgians still account for 55 per cent of the total number of overnight stays. Business tourists accounted for 17 per cent of the overnight stays in 2024.

Tourists mainly chose to stay in Flemish hotels. 38 per cent of the total overnight stays – more than 10.6 million – were booked in hotels. Gîtes, holiday homes and apartments accounted for 19 per cent. 14 per cent of overnight stays were in holiday parks and 12 per cent in youth hostels and other youth accommodation centres.

The coast and art cities

Approximately 28 percent of all overnight stays in Flanders in 2024 took place on the coast. The art cities Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Leuven and Mechelen together accounted for more than 7.2 million overnight stays, or 26 percent of the total. There were almost 2.8 million overnight stays in Antwerp, 2 million in Bruges and just over 1.6 million in Ghent.

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The rest of the overnight stays took place in other Flemish municipalities, with the largest numbers in a few municipalities in the Kempen region, where there are many holiday parks, and in Machelen, near the airport.

^{#FlandersNewsService | Tourists at the beach on the Belgian coast, in Blankenberge © BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER}

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